The Istanbul Branch of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) released its semi-annual report detailing rights violations in 17 prisons across the Marmara Region from January to June 2025. The report highlights systemic abuses such as forced strip searched, denial of healthcare, and arbitrary blocks on prisoner releases, most notably, the prevention of conditional release for 93 prisoners.
The reasoned decision of the Kobani Case, in which former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş was sentenced to 42 years in prison and Figen Yüksekdağ to 30 years and 3 months, has been announced.
Members of the Youth Assembly of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party were detained in Amed (Diyarbakır).
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has announced that it will review Turkey’s compliance with the “right to hope ” rulings concerning Abdullah Öcalan, Emin Gurban, Civan Boltan and Hayati Kaytan at its meeting in September 2025.
Sıddık Güler, 85, seriously ill prisoner held in İskenderun T-Type Closed Prison, was referred to Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) one month after the prosecutor’s decision.
Mehmet Zeki Kılıç, Co-chair of the Marmara Association for Solidarity and Assistance with Prisoners and Their Families (MATUHAYDER), called for a collective fight against the ongoing unlawful practices in prisons, emphasizing that the current conditions are a major obstacle to democratization.
Under the pretext of oil exploration, widespread deforestation continues in the Gabar Mountain region. In the villages of Basret and Zivingo, located on the mountain’s slopes, recent footage reveals the ecological damage and shows endangered mountain goats fleeing the area with their young.
Prominent human rights defenders and civil society representatives gathered in Amed (Diyarbakır) for the “Road to Peace: Truth and Justice” meeting organized by the Human Rights Association (IHD) on June 21-22. Participants emphasized the urgency of defining and initiating a new peace process in response to the Kurdish issue, arguing that it must be rooted in justice and not delayed.
In Şirnex, five incidents of sexual violence against children occurred within the span of three months. Emine Özdemir from the Şırnak Bar Association said they are being excluded from the process and stated, “When the judiciary aligns itself with the perpetrator, abuse becomes not only a judicial issue, but also a political one.”
Eşref Aker, husband of politician and seriously ill prisoner Felem Aker, called for removing obstacles to the release of ill prisoners, asking, “Do their funerals have to come first? This issue should not even be a matter of negotiation.”
It has been 10 years since the death of Eylem Ataş (Cemre Heval), a member of the United Freedom Forces, who lost her life while fighting against ISIS in North and East Syria. Her brother Hüseyin Ataş said that his sister lives on in the women's movement and the struggle and rebellion of the youth.
Members of the Van Women’s Platform applied to the Ministry of Justice to request a meeting with Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan.
In a press statement held in front of the former Gayrettepe Istanbul Police Department, one of the known centres of torture, the Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV) stated: “The events surrounding the March 19, 2025 protests, during which people were tortured at police stations, once again revealed the undeniable historical and ideological continuity of torture.”
Çetin Arkaş’s release was postponed for 3 months by the Prison Administration and Observation Board. The Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) held a press conference, calling the decision arbitrary and unlawful. Lawyer Rezan Sarıca asked, “How can the brotherhood law be built with such decisions?”
Nurdan Kılıç, a member of the Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD), emphasized that democratic and structural transformation can only take place on a legal foundation and stated that a commission involving all political components should be established before the Parliament closes.