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Human rights defender Mark Kuperman -persecution in Russia doesn’t spare anyone

February 17, 2025

A group of UN Special Rapporteurs condemned the criminal prosecution of 85-year-old human rights defender Mark Kuperman, who has a disability and uses a wheelchair.

Kuperman, a prominent Russian human rights advocate, faces severe “terrorism” charges and is being targeted for his anti-war views and human rights work. A celebrated human rights defender, Kuperman is the head of the Public Human Rights Center in Sakhalin region and in 2022, was awarded the Moscow Helsinki Group’s human rights prize.

On 4 April 2024, the Sakhalin Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Kuperman on charges of “extremism.” When the investigation concluded in early December 2024, the case was unexpectedly reopened on 20 December 2024, and the authorities escalated the charges to “public calls for terrorist activities” under article 205, part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code. These charges stem from a draft document Kuperman received from a colleague and allegedly shared with his team in January 2023, discussing potential scenarios for Russia’s democratic development and the role of the West in supporting future democratic institutions.

The experts voiced serious concerns about the impact of judicial harassment on Kuperman, especially considering his advanced age, disability, and deteriorating health. The court proceedings, set to start immediately, could endanger his life and well-being, particularly if he is detained.

“It is appalling to prosecute an older human rights defender with a first-degree disability on unsubstantiated charges of “terrorism”, brought against him just to punish him for his criticism of the war against Ukraine,” the experts said.

“Russian authorities rushing the case to trial and denying Kuperman adequate time to prepare his defence demonstrates once again the lack of judicial independence and instrumentalisation of the judicial system to silence the independent and dissenting voices in Russia.”

The Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court set an unreasonably short five-working-day deadline for Kuperman to study the case files, without providing any procedural accommodations and ignoring his disability, cognitive decline, chronic pain, movement restrictions, and weak vision. On 24 January, the investigator arbitrarily ended the review process, hindering Kuperman’s defence preparation and blocking his ability to request case dismissal due to lack of evidence. Additionally, the Russian security services (FSB) apparently installed listening devices in his apartment, preventing his confidential communication with his lawyer, as Kuperman is unable to leave his apartment due to his physical impairment.

“This case fits the broader pattern of using counter-extremism and counter-terrorism legislation in Russia to target human rights defenders, anti-war activists, and political opponents for exercising their freedom of expression,” the experts added. “Kuperman’s private discussions and human rights work have been criminalised, undermining the integrity of legal proceedings and violating due process. All charges against Kuperman should be dropped.”

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/02/russia-must-immediately-drop-charges-against-85-year-old-human-rights

https://community.scoop.co.nz/2025/02/russia-must-immediately-drop-charges-against-85-year-old-human-rights-defender-mark-kuperman-un-experts/

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Joint civil society statement on the fifth anniversary of the “Xiamen gathering” crackdown

February 11, 2025

On the fifth anniversary of the “Xiamen Gathering” crackdown, 34 civil society organisations (on 10 February 2025) across the world reaffirm their solidarity with Chinese human rights defenders and lawyers persecuted for advocating for human rights:

26 December 2024 marked the fifth anniversary of the crackdown on the “Xiamen gathering”, a private gathering that about 20 Chinese human rights defenders and lawyers convened in Xiamen, China in December 2019 to discuss the situation of human rights and civil society in China. In the weeks after, Chinese authorities interrogated, harassed, detained and imprisoned every participant who was not able to leave China then and subjected almost all of them, including some families and friends, to travel bans, up to the present day, under the pretext of national security.

Among those detained were legal scholar Xu Zhiyong and human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi. Both are leading human rights defenders who spearheaded the “New Citizens’ Movement”, empowering citizens as rights-bearers to advocate for a more equal, rights-respecting and free society, and to combat corruption, wealth inequality and discrimination in access to education. In 2014, Xu and Ding were both sentenced to four years and three and a half years in prison, respectively, for participating in the New Citizens’ Movement and charged with “gathering a crowd to disturb public order”.

From 26 December 2019, and over the weeks that followed, the Chinese authorities forcibly disappeared both under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL), a criminal procedure allowing secret detention for up to six months without access to legal counsel or family. RSDL is considered by UN Special Procedures experts to constitute secret detention and a form of enforced disappearance, and may amount to torture or other ill-treatment. While held under RSDL, both men were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, before being charged with the national security crime of “subversion of State power”. They were subsequently convicted in a secret trial and handed severe prison sentences of 14 and 12 years, respectively, in April 2023. Despite multiple calls from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and from UN Special Procedures’ experts as recently as November 2024, China has failed to address these grave violations.

These cases are emblematic of a broader and alarming trend of persecution  of human rights defenders and lawyers in China. Authorities systematically employ RSDL, harsh national security charges, torture and other ill-treatment, prolonged detention, travel bans and harassment to silence dissent and dismantle independent civil society. The use of vague charges such as “subversion of State power” or “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” has become a routine tactic to criminalise human rights work, despite UN human rights experts’ repeated call for them to be repealed. Victims often face prolonged pre-trial detention, lack of due process, restricted access to lawyer and adequate healthcare, and torture or other ill-treatment aimed at extracting forced ‘confessions’.

This systematic repression is further reflected in the cases of human rights lawyers Xie Yang and Lu Siwei, feminist activist Huang Xueqin, labour activist Wang Jianbing, and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, all of whom are currently subjected to arbitrary detention or imprisonment  . UN Special Procedures’ experts have recently described these cases as part of “recurring patterns of repression, including incommunicado detention and enforced disappearance aimed at […] silencing human rights defenders and dissenting or opposing views critical of the Government”.

As we commemorate the fifth anniversary of the crackdown, we, organisations and activists from all over the world, continue to stand in solidarity with all human rights defenders and lawyers in China who courageously advocate for justice despite knowing the risks of doing so.

We urge the Chinese government to:

  1. Immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders and lawyers arbitrarily detained or imprisoned for their human rights work, including Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi;
  2. End the systematic crackdown on civil society, including harassment, unjustified detention, enforced disappearance, and imprisonment of human rights defenders and lawyers;
  3. Amend laws and regulations, including national security legislation, the Criminal Law and the Criminal Procedure Law, to bring them fully in line with international human rights standards;
  4. Rescind the travel bans imposed on the gathering participants as well as their friends and families immediately.

Signatories:

  1. Alliance for Citizens Rights
  2. Amnesty International 
  3. Asian Lawyers Network (ALN) (Japan)
  4. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
  5. Free Tibet (United Kingdom)
  6. Human Rights in China
  7. India Tibet Friendship Society Nagpur Maharashtra (India)
  8. International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
  9. International Campaign for Tibet
  10. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
  11. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) 
  12. International Tibet Network
  13. Judicial Reform Foundation (Taiwan) 
  14. Lawyers for Lawyers (Netherlands)
  15. LUNGTA – Active for Tibet (Belgium)
  16. PEN America (United States)
  17. Safeguard Defenders (Spain) 
  18. Swiss Tibetan Friendship Association (Switzerland)
  19. Taiwan Association for Human Rights (Taiwan)
  20. The 29 Principles (United Kingdom)
  21. The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders 
  22. The Rights Practice (United Kingdom)
  23. Tibet Justice Center (United States)
  24. Tibet Solidarity (United Kingdom)
  25. Voluntary Tibet Advocacy Group (V-TAG) (Netherlands)
  26. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
  27. Acción Solidaria (Venezuela)
  28. Amnistía Internacional Chile (Chile)
  29. CADAL (Argentina)
  30. Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Francisco de Vitoria OP, A.C. (Mexico)
  31. CONTIOCAP – Coordinadora Nacional de Defensa de Territorios Indígenas Originarios Campesinos y Áreas Protegidas en Bolivia (Bolivia)
  32. Movimiento Autónomo de Mujeres (Nicaragua)
  33. Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos Todos los Derechos para todas, todos y todes (Mexico)
  34. Voces de Tíbet (Mexico)

https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/joint-civil-society-statement-on-the-fifth-anniversary-of-the-xiamen-gathering-crackdown

https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/fifth-anniversary-xiamen-gathering-crackdown

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UN expert urges support for Myanmar’s human rights defenders in face of military oppression

February 3, 2025

The fourth anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar is a time to mourn the loss of thousands of innocent lives at the hands of a brutal 2025military regime while celebrating the heroism of those who continue to stand up for human rights in a country under siege, a UN expert said on30januaary

“It is also a time for the international community to provide the people of Myanmar a genuine partnership to help end this nightmare,” said Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar.

Andrews said four years of military oppression, violence and incompetence have cast Myanmar into an abyss.

“Junta forces have slaughtered thousands of civilians, bombed and burned villages, and displaced millions of people. More than 20,000 political prisoners remain behind bars. The economy and public services have collapsed. Famine and starvation loom over large parts of the population,” the Special Rapporteur said.

“The junta’s plans, including holding sham elections this year in a backdrop of escalating armed conflict and human rights violations, are a path to ruin,” Andrews said.

He said it was not possible to hold a legitimate election while arresting, detaining, torturing and executing leaders of the opposition and when it is illegal for journalists or citizens to criticise the junta.

“Governments should dismiss these plans for what they are – a fraud,” Andrews said.

He lauded pro-democracy activists, journalists, doctors, human rights defenders and citizens from all walks of life who have risked their lives to fight for Myanmar’s future.

“The resilience and courage of Myanmar’s people continue to amaze and inspire others around the world. I am heartened by the courageous efforts of those documenting the junta’s crimes, caring for those injured by the attacks, providing food and shelter to those displaced, and teaching children whose education was upended by the coup. These heroic efforts are compelling indicators that Myanmar’s best days lie ahead,” the expert said.

Andrews said action by member states including targeted sanctions and a crackdown on the arms trade by Singapore have contributed to a one-third drop in the volume of weapons and military supplies the junta has been able to purchase through the formal banking system since the year ending March 2023.

“When governments muster the political will, they help save lives and support freedom in Myanmar,” the Special Rapporteur said, calling for stronger action from the international community. “The failure of the Security Council to take action requires that UN Member States who support human rights coordinate strong, sustained actions that can deny the junta the means to continue its brutality against the people of Myanmar.”

He urged governments to back efforts to hold perpetrators of grave human rights violations accountable, including in the International Criminal Court (ICC), and by supporting the democratic movement and civil society as they build the foundation for a strong justice system and transitional justice processes.

“Impunity has enabled a decades-long cycle of violence and oppression in Myanmar. Ultimately, this sad chapter of Myanmar’s history must end with junta leaders being prosecuted for their crimes,” Andrews said.

https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/un-expert-urges-support-people-myanmar-they-heroically-oppose-military-oppression

https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/america-first-in-action-trumps-aid-freeze-erodes-an-already-anemic-response-to-myanmar-crisis

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Request to sign joint NGO letter for human rights defenders resolution at 58th session HRC

February 3, 2025

At the upcoming 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Norway will present a draft resolution on human rights defenders and new and emerging technologies.

ISHR has prepared the attached letter urging States to actively support the adoption of a resolution that recognises updated frameworks to protect human rights defenders in the digital era, addresses the growing risks of cybercrimes, online harassment, surveillance, and the suppression of free expression through censorship and disinformation. 

ISHR will be collecting NGO signatories until  7 February 2025. Please sign the letter using this link. Please feel free to circulate the link to sign on the letter to your civil society networks. We will be circulating the final version with signatories for publishing and sending it to  Geneva missions on 10 February .

Please note that  ISHR is not able to take on comments/edits on this letter. We invite interested NGOs to send their inputs directly to the drafters of the resolution – the Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva. 

Sign the letter

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Rapporteur dismayed by continued criminalisation of human rights defenders after her visit to Algeria

February 1, 2025

On 30 January 2025 Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said that Algeria continues to restrict and harass human rights defenders for their peaceful activities, an independent human rights expert said today.

“More than a year after I visited Algeria – at the end of 2023 – I am deeply disappointed to see that human rights defenders in different fields of work, some of whom I met, are still being arbitrarily arrested, judicially harassed, intimidated and criminalised for their peaceful activities under vaguely worded provisions, such as ‘harming the security of the State’,” said Mary Lawlor. [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/12/07/mary-lawlor-returns-from-algeria-visit/]

“The case of Mr. Merzoug Touati, an independent journalist and human rights defender who has been subjected for years to trials on spurious charges, is among the most alarming cases I have recently examined,” Lawlor said.

“Since 2024, he has been detained three times. During his latest arrest, in August 2024, his family was reportedly subjected to ill-treatment. He was then allegedly physically and psychologically tortured while in police custody for five days. He continues to be judicially harassed even after his release,” the expert said.

“No less concerning is the arrest of three human rights lawyers and a young whistleblower between February and July 2024,” Lawlor said, highlighting the cases of Toufik Belala, Soufiane Ouali and Omar Boussag.

Belala was summoned for interrogation three times since April 2024 and finally accused of publishing false information that may threaten the security of the State, before being freed under judicial control.

The human rights lawyer Soufiane Ouali was taken from his home during a violent dawn raid by police in July 2024, and placed in custody along with 14 others, including the young whistleblower Yuba Manguellet. They were charged under Article 87bis of the Penal Code, a vaguely worded counter-terrorism provision that is often misused to crackdown on freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

Other restrictive articles of the Penal Code have been used to accuse human rights lawyer Omar Boussag of ‘incitement of an unarmed gathering’ and ‘contempt of an official body’ following the publication of his posts on Facebook.

“These are not the only cases,” Lawlor said. “The environmental rights defender Karim Khima has been pursued for years in court for organising protests against a housing development on land with historical remains and for the protection of the ecosystem around Lake Mezaia, which is threatened by the planned construction of an amusement park. Fortunately, he was finally acquitted.”

Lawlor also drew attention to the case of the ‘Collectif des Familles de Disparus,’ an organisation set up during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s to seek answers to the forcible disappearance of persons. This year, the organisation has repeatedly been prevented from holding events by huge contingents of police forces surrounding its office in Algiers. Its female lawyer and members, many of whom are mothers of disappeared persons, have been manhandled and forced to leave the location on these occasions.

“I want to repeat that I met nearly all of these human rights defenders,” the Special Rapporteur said. “Not one of them was in any way pursuing violent acts. They all must be treated in accordance with international human rights law, which Algeria is bound to respect.”

She said that during her visit to Algeria, she also met with many public officials in an atmosphere of constructive exchange. “I am therefore doubly disappointed to see that restrictions against human rights defenders are continuing,” Lawlor said.

https://reliefweb.int/report/algeria/algeria-special-rapporteur-dismayed-continued-criminalisation-human-rights-defenders-after-her-visit

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/01/algeria-special-rapporteur-dismayed-continued-criminalisation-human-rights

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Three Navalny lawyers sentenced to years in Russian penal colony

January 20, 2025

On 17 January, 2025 Mark Trevelyan for Reuters reported that three lawyers for the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny were found guilty by a Russian court of belonging to an extremist group and sentenced to years in a penal colony.

Igor Sergunin, Alexei Liptser and Vadim Kobzev were arrested in October 2023 and added the following month to an official list of “terrorists and extremists”. They were sentenced respectively to 3-1/2, 5 and 5-1/2 years after a trial held behind closed doors in the Vladimir region, east of Moscow.

“Vadim, Alexei and Igor are political prisoners and must be released immediately,” Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late politician, posted on X.

Human rights activists say the prosecution of lawyers who defend people speaking out against the authorities and the war in Ukraine crosses a new threshold in the repression of dissent under President Vladimir Putin.

“Lawyers cannot be persecuted for their work. Pressure on defence lawyers risks destroying the little that remains of the rule of law, whose appearance the Russian authorities are still trying to maintain,” rights group OVD-Info said in a statement.

It said Navalny’s lawyers were being prosecuted “only because the letter of the law still matters to them and they did not leave the man alone with the repressive machine”.

The Kremlin says it does not comment on individual court cases. Authorities have long cast Navalny and his supporters as Western-backed traitors seeking to destabilise Russia. Despite his imprisonment, Navalny was able via his lawyers to post on social media and file frequent lawsuits over his treatment in prison, using the resulting legal hearings as a chance to keep speaking out against the government and the war. The lawyers were accused of enabling him to continue to function as the leader of an “extremist group”, even from behind bars, by passing his messages to the outside world.

In court, a woman shouted “Boys, you are heroes” and supporters applauded the three men, standing together in a barred cage for the defendants, after their sentencing.

Yulia Navalnaya last month published video of secretly recorded meetings between Navalny and the lawyers in prison, something she said was illegal because an accused person has the right to confer privately with a lawyer. Russia’s federal prison service did not reply to a request for comment.

Navalnaya said the recordings were made by the authorities and handed to her team after it offered a reward for people to come forward with information about Navalny’s death.

She alleges her husband was murdered on Putin’s orders, an accusation that the Kremlin has strongly denied. Navalnaya herself is wanted in Russia for alleged extremist activity but has said she hopes to return to the country one day and run for president.

On 21 January 2025 the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, urged authorities to end the severe crackdown on the legal profession in Russia and stop endangering the lives and safety of lawyers.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/three-navalny-lawyers-jailed-belonging-extremist-organisation-mediazona-news-2025-01-17/

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/01/russia-special-rapporteur-appalled-prison-sentences-punish-navalny-lawyers

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Egypt: Special Rapporteur concerned about use of anti-terrorism legislation HRDs

January 17, 2025

An independent human rights expert expressed on 15 January 2025 concern about the continued application of anti-terrorism legislation in Egypt to imprison human rights defenders.

“Although there has been some progress with the release of some detainees and the development of a national human rights strategy, Egypt persists in routinely misusing counter-terrorism legislation and recycling criminal charges against human rights defenders,” said Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

“What is particularly striking is the continued detention of human rights defenders past their release date by repeatedly charging them with similar, if not identical, terrorism-related accusations, in a practice commonly known as “rotation” or “recycling”,” Lawlor said.

The Special Rapporteur previously raised concerns in this regard in 22 communications sent to the Government of Egypt since May 2020. The practice of “rotation” was also highlighted by the UN Human Rights Committee in its concluding observations on Egypt’s last review in March 2023.

In particular, the Special Rapporteur expressed concern over the use of this practice to detain three human rights defenders for lengthy periods of time.

“It is shocking that instead of being released at the end of her five-year sentence on 1 November 2023, human rights lawyer Ms. Hoda Abdel Moneim was detained again under new charges. And one year later, a third set of charges was brought against her. She is now facing two new trials, with one of the new charges – ‘joining an unnamed terrorist organisation’ – being identical to that for which she had completed her sentence in 2023, in violation of the principle of double jeopardy”, Lawlor said.

In November 2024, the same terrorism-related charge was brought against another woman human rights defender, Aisha al-Shater, who was tried in the same case with Abdel Moneim. This charge is also identical to that for which she is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence.

In a third case, human rights defender and lawyer Ibrahim Metwally has been arbitrarily detained without trial for over four years. He was arrested in 2017 at Cairo Airport, while he was on his way to Geneva to meet with the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Although the Cairo Criminal Court has ordered his conditional release twice, he was repeatedly charged with new terrorism-related offences, one of which he supposedly committed in prison. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention previously found Metwally’s detention to be arbitrary and noted that it amounts to an act of retaliation for cooperation with the UN.

“It is outrageous that Mr Metwally is facing trial in three cases, including that of ‘conspiring with foreign entities’, which appear to be in relation to his cooperation with the UN and his peaceful human rights work in Egypt prior to his detention,” Lawlor said.

The Special Rapporteur noted that the poor prison conditions in which the three human rights defenders are held were equally alarming. The human rights defenders have had health problems from the start of their arrest and have reportedly been denied adequate medical treatment despite the severity of their conditions, which may amount to physical and psychological ill-treatment.

“It is unacceptable for prison authorities to deny recommended surgery, bar the transfer of a detainee to a hospital, or withhold medical records from the detainee’s family and lawyer,” Lawlor said.

The Special Rapporteur is in contact with the authorities of Egypt on this issue and has urged them to meet their international human rights obligations, by which they must abide.

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/egypt/

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/01/egypt-special-rapporteur-concerned-about-use-anti-terrorism-legislation

https://african.business/2025/01/apo-newsfeed/egypt-special-rapporteur-concerned-about-use-of-anti-terrorism-legislation-against-human-rights-defenders

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/egypt

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UN special rapporteur ‘dismayed’ at Turkey’s jailing of human rights lawyers

January 17, 2025

A United Nations special rapporteur on Thursday 16 January 2025 condemned Turkey’s continued use of counterterrorism laws to imprison human rights lawyers and activists, calling it a violation of international human rights obligations.

Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, expressed alarm over the long-term detention of nine Turkish human rights lawyers and activists who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on what she described as “spurious terrorism-related charges.”

[see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/02/07/turkey-not-a-good-place-to-be-a-lawyer-or-a-judge/]

The group includes eight members of the Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD) who were arrested between 2018 and 2019 and convicted under Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law: Barkın Timtik, Aytaç Ünsal, Özgür Yılmaz, Behiç Aşçı, Engin Gökoğlu, Süleyman Gökten, Selçuk Kozağaçlı and Oya Aslan. They were sentenced to up to 13 years in prison in what has been widely criticized as an unfair trial, known as the ÇHD II trial.

Another arrestee, lawyer Turan Canpolat of the Malatya Bar Association, was imprisoned in 2016 based on the testimony of a client who later admitted he had been coerced. Canpolat was convicted of alleged links to the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, which Ankara accuses of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The Gülen movement denies involvement in the coup.

Canpolat was detained in 2016 after responding to a police search at a client’s residence, only to find himself accused based on doctored evidence and coerced testimony. Despite the dismissal of related charges against others implicated in his case and the recanting of key testimony, he remains in prison. His conviction was based on his legal representation of companies later closed by emergency decrees after the coup, a move critics argue criminalizes standard legal work. International legal groups have denounced his imprisonment as a miscarriage of justice, calling for his release.

All nine lawyers are currently held in high-security prisons, and Canpolat has reportedly been kept in solitary confinement for nearly three years without a disciplinary order, a practice the UN expert found “extremely disturbing.”

Lawlor has raised concerns about their cases since the beginning of her mandate in 2020, but Turkey has continued to criminalize their work. “I remain dismayed that the criminalization of their human rights work has not stopped,” she said.

She urged Turkish authorities to comply with international human rights law and guarantee fair appeal hearings for the detained lawyers. “I am ready to discuss this further with Turkish authorities,” she added.

The Turkish government has repeatedly been criticized for using broad anti-terror laws to silence political dissent and imprison journalists, lawyers and activists. Since the 2016 coup attempt, Turkey has arrested thousands on terrorism-related charges, often based on tenuous evidence such as social media posts or association with banned groups.

International human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have condemned Turkey for what they describe as politically motivated prosecutions and the erosion of due process. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Turkey in multiple cases, finding that it has violated the right to a fair trial and engaged in arbitrary detention.

https://www.turkishminute.com/2025/01/16/un-special-rapporteur-dismayed-at-turkeys-jailing-of-human-rights-lawyers-under-terrorism-laws4

seealsohttps://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/turkey/turkey-unacceptable-attacks-on-the-legal-profession

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First World Congress on Enforced Disappearances 15 – 16 January in Geneva

January 15, 2025

The first World Congress on Enforced Disappearances will convene from 15 – 16 January in Geneva, marking a pivotal step in the global fight to prevent and eradicate this egregious human rights violation.

This event will bring together governments, victims, civil society organisations, and international bodies to foster dialogue and chart a collective path forward to end enforced disappearances worldwide. Over the course of the two-day event, panel discussions will be held on topics such as international responsibility for the forcibly disappeared, strengthening search procedures, and protecting victims, rights defenders, lawyers and journalists.

See also https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/5E526725-F43B-83FB-3B7E-2B3C56D01F60

and https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/81468931-79AA-24FF-58F7-10351638AFE3

The Congress, open to the press and the public, is co-organised by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED), the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), the UN Human Rights Office, and the Convention Against Enforced Disappearances Initiative (CEDI).

Details of the programme are available online. The event will take place at the Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG). Onsite registration is open at the venue.

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances monitors States parties’ adherence to the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which as of to date, has been ratified by 77 States parties. The Committee is made up of 10 members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties.

The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances comprises five independent experts from all regions of the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Ms. Gabriella Citroni (Italy); and the Vice-Chair is Ms. Grażyna Baranowska (Poland); other members are Aua Balde (Guinea-Bissau); Ms. Ana Lorena Delgadillo Perez (Mexico); and Mr. Mohammed Al-Obaidi (Iraq).

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/01/first-world-congress-enforced-disappearances-chart-course-collective-action

https://www.dailyparliamenttimes.com/2025/01/13/worlds-first-congress-on-enforced-disappearances-kashmirs-silenced-voices/

https://www.icj.org/wced-1st-world-congress-on-enforced-disappearances/

The report: https://www.icj.org/world-congress-on-enforced-disappearance-preventing-and-ending-impunity-for-a-global-scourge/

Posted in Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, ICJ, OHCHR, UN | Leave a Comment »
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UN special rapporteurs note human rights violations against Gülen movement in Turkey – Erdogan disagrees vehemently

December 7, 2024

The Turkish government has refused to respond to allegations of systematic repression against individuals allegedly affiliated with the Gülen movement made by United Nations special rapporteurs, according to official documents published on Friday by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In a joint letter dated October 7, 2024, seven UN special rapporteurs asked the Turkish government about alleged measures of “systematic repression against persons ostensibly affiliated with the Gülen Movement through the misuse of counter-terrorism legislation, and the concomitant impact on civil society, human rights defenders, political dissidents, and journalists.”

The allegations center on Turkey’s treatment of people allegedly associated with the faith-based Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen.

In its response via a diplomatic note dated October 30, the Turkish government refrained from answering the allegations brought up by the special rapporteurs and instead listed their accusations against the Gülen movement and requested the “Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council not to allow FETÖ and its members to abuse these mechanisms, and to dismiss their allegations.”

FETÖ is a derogatory acronym used to refer to the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been pursuing followers of the Gülen movement since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-Prime Minister Erdoğan and some members of his family and his inner circle.

Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch in 2016 that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement has strongly denied involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.

The rapporteurs outlined practices they say violate international human rights laws, including arbitrary arrests, torture, transnational renditions and surveillance abuses.

The UN Rapporteurs said these individuals face intensified crackdowns involving mass detentions, forced disappearances and unjust prosecutions under vague anti-terrorism laws. Between June 2023 and June 2024, more than 8,800 people were detained and 1,500 were charged with terrorism offenses, they said.

Among the rapporteurs’ chief concerns was the treatment of children detained as part of these operations. In May 2024, 16 children were arrested in İstanbul and allegedly subjected to psychological pressure, physical torture and denial of legal counsel. The UN rapporteurs described these actions as clear violations of international protections for children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The rapporteurs also criticized Turkey’s use of public “grey lists,” wanted lists where individuals — ranging from journalists to human rights defenders — are labeled as terrorists, often without evidence or due process. These lists, which include photos and personal details, are made public alongside monetary rewards for information leading to their capture. This practice, according to the rapporteurs, endangers lives, undermines freedoms and creates a “hitman economy.”

Another key concern involved transnational renditions. The rapporteurs alleged that Turkey has systematically abducted and forcibly returned suspected Gülen affiliates from other countries under vague bilateral security agreements. Victims were reportedly detained in secret, subjected to torture and coerced into confessions used in prosecutions.

The misuse of surveillance powers also drew heavy criticism. Turkey’s intelligence agency was accused of fabricating evidence from the ByLock messaging app to convict thousands of people on tenuous charges of affiliation with the Gülen movement. The UN noted that such actions lack due process and violate privacy rights under international law.

The rapporteurs called on Turkey to address these alleged violations, halt ongoing abuses and ensure compliance with international human rights standards. They expressed particular concern about the government’s expansive interpretation of anti-terrorism laws, which they argue target legitimate political activity, dissent and human rights advocacy.

The letter was authored by seven UN special rapporteurs and a UN expert, including Mary Lawlor, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Alice Jill Edwards, special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism. Other contributors included Gabriella Citroni, chair-rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and Irene Khan, special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression.

Turkey snubs UN special rapporteurs probing widespread human rights violations against Gülen movement

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