Posts Tagged ‘arrest’

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23 rights groups call for release of Istanbul Bar board member Fırat Epözdemir

February 7, 2025
Photo: Evrensel

Twenty-three human rights organizations have called for the immediate release of İstanbul Bar Association executive board member Fırat Epözdemir, who was arrested last week over alleged ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Media and Law Studies Association reported February 3, 2025,

Advocacy groups condemned his detention as unlawful and part of a broader crackdown on human rights defenders and legal professionals in Turkey.

The Human Rights Defenders Solidarity Network (İHSDA) issued a statement denouncing Epözdemir’s arrest and urging authorities to drop the charges. The statement, signed by multiple rights organizations, emphasized that targeting lawyers and human rights advocates with judicial harassment is unacceptable.

Epözdemir was arrested Saturday by an İstanbul court on charges of “membership in an armed terrorist group” and “disseminating terrorist propaganda.”

Prosecutors in İstanbul accuse Epözdemir of joining a PKK-linked WhatsApp group in 2015, during the peak of clashes between Kurdish militants and Turkish security forces in the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeast.

The PKK has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, a conflict that has left more than 40,000 people dead. 

Epözdemir’s legal team has faced severe restrictions in accessing case files due to a confidentiality order, preventing them from reviewing the evidence against him. Authorities also imposed a 24-hour ban on lawyer visits without providing a clear justification, raising concerns of due process violations.

The joint statement criticized the prosecution’s reliance on a decade-old public event and phone conversations as grounds for Epözdemir’s arrest, calling the charges baseless and politically motivated.

His detention, rights groups argue, is an attack on the legal profession and human rights advocacy in Turkey. They linked his arrest to broader efforts to suppress dissent, noting that members of the İstanbul Bar Association have faced mounting pressure after issuing a statement regarding two journalists killed in Syria.

“Lawyers and bar associations must not be criminalized for their advocacy and defense of fundamental rights,” the statement said. “We reject all attempts to silence human rights defenders and demand the immediate and unconditional release of Fırat Epözdemir.”

Among the signatories were the MLSA, the Human Rights Association (İHD), Civil Rights Defenders, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV) and numerous other civil society organizations.

23 rights groups call for release of Istanbul Bar board member

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Bangladesh: Six student human rights defenders arbitrarily detained

August 1, 2024

On the 26th to 28th July 2024, six student human rights defender namely: Nahid Islam, Abu Bakar Majumder, Asif Mahmud, Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Nusrat Tabassum reportedly have been arbitrarily detained under custody of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) Detective Branch (DB) and coerced to announce the withdrawal of their protest programmes through a video message sent to media from the DB office at around 8:00 PM on 28 July 2024.

Nahid Islam, Abu Bakar Majumder, Asif Mahmud, Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Nusrat Tabassum are students and dedicated human rights defenders and National Coordinators of the Students Against Discrimination Movement. Nahid Islam is from the Sociology Department, Abu Bakar Majumder from the Geography Department, Asif Mahmud from the Linguistics Department, Sarjis Alam is affiliated with the Zoology Department, Hasnat Abdullah is from the English Department, and Nusrat Tabassum is from the Political Science Department of Dhaka University.

Students Against Discrimination Movement is a student led protest demanding reform of the present quota system in government jobs. A total 56 percent of first and second class government jobs in Bangladesh entailed quotas. 30 percent of the total reserved for the descendants of ‘freedom fighters’. This quota has been widely criticised especially by the students, stating that it create a discriminatory system and allegedly used to recruit students affiliated with the ruling party. Following widespread protests in 2018, the Government of Bangladesh abolished all quotas with an executive order. However, on 5 June 2024, the High Court ordered the Government to reinstate the quota with the power of any adjustment they want to make.

Since 01 July 2024, the protests have escalated in several university campuses.The protests was met with a severe crackdown from the authorities involving ruling party goons, police and paramilitary forces from Rapid Action Battelion (RAB) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). It has reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 250 people with thousands more injured. With the internet shutdown for almost a week, suspicion remains about many more killings. Since 18 July 2024, local media reported over 10000 people, including many students been arrested in a mass arrest spree.

On 28 July 2024, at around 5:00 AM, woman human rights defender Nusrat Tabassum from Dhaka University had been reportedly picked up by individuals claiming to be from Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s DB at her cousin’s home in Mirpur.

On 27 July 2024, two more student human rights defenders Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah were picked up and brought to the DB office. The Additional Commissioner of the DB claimed in a press conference that the student human rights defenders have been brought to their custody to ensure their safety, however the comissioner did not clear it whether they have been arrested. While the family members were not allowed to even enter into the DB office on 28 July 2024, they were allowed to meet the students on 29 July – only after their video message of withdrawal of their protest program been covered in media.

On 26 July 2024, at around 4:00 PM, human rights defenders Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud and Abu Bakar Majumder were forcefully taken from Gonoshasthaya Kendra Hospital by the police in plainclothes in Dhaka and taken to custody of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s DB. Nahid and Asif were undergoing treatment Gonoshasthaya Kendra Hospital while Abu Bakar was accompanying them. Police also took away their phones.

Front Line Defenders condemns the arbitrary detention and coercion of student human rights defenders Nahid Islam, Abu Bakar Majumder, Asif Mahmud, Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Nusrat Tabassum by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police in an attempt to repress their human rights work and target legimate students protests in Bangladesh.

Front Line Defenders urges the relevant authorities in Bangladesh to:

  1. Immediately and unconditionally release Nahid Islam, Abu Bakar Majumder, Asif Mahmud, Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Nusrat Tabassum.
  2. Ensure the physical and psychological safety and well-being of Nahid Islam, Abu Bakar Majumder, Asif Mahmud, Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Nusrat Tabassum while they remain in custody.
  3. To secure their immediate access to their families, legal representation, and any medical care they may require.
  4. End to all forms of harassment, intimidation, and arbitrary detention of student human rights defenders in Bangladesh. The rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association must be respected and protected.
  5. Conduct independent and transparent investigation into the arbitrary detention and coercion of these student human rights defenders.

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/six-student-human-rights-defenders-arbitrarily-detained-and-forced-announce-withdrawal-protest

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Human rights defender Aliaksandr Vaitseshyk detained in Belarus

March 22, 2024

On 20 March 2024, it was reported that Aliaksandr Vaitseshyk was arrested during a raid on his home.

Last week, human rights defender Aliaksandr Vaitseshyk was detained in Baranavičy. The police released a video of the raid on his home, which shows him lying on the floor during the arrest. The reasons for this harassment are unknown. The activist is being held in the Baranavičy temporary detention center.

The last time Vaitseshyk was arrested was on November 9, 2023. Back then, he was accused of distributing extremist content and detained for 15 days. His laptop and phone were confiscated by court order. See https://apnews.com/article/belarus-crackdown-activists-vaitseshyk-lukashenko-d01124fdbade51518a64ae37c9886cfb.

https://spring96.org/en/news/114803

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Maryam al-Khawaja risks prison by returning to Bahrain to press for her father’s release

September 11, 2023

On 7 September 2023 Maryam Alkhawaja made this surprising and immensely courageous statement on twitter (X): “Today marks one month since the beginning of the largest mass #hungerstrike by political prisoners in #Bahrain, – and I am announcing that I will be traveling there next week to try and save my imprisoned father’s life. #FreeAlKhawaja #DKPol #Solidarity“

The trip by Maryam al-Khawaja draws renewed attention to the plight of her 62-year-old ailing father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a dual Danish-Bahraini national convicted of internationally criticised terrorism charges and held in what a United Nations panel calls an “arbitrary” imprisonment ever since. He is the laureate of the 2022 Martin Ennals Award. See also: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/4d45e316-c636-4d02-852d-7bfc2b08b78d

It also raises the stakes of the month-long hunger strike in Bahrain just ahead of a planned visit to the United States by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. It has become one of the longest-sustained demonstrations of dissent in the decade since Bahrain, aided by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, violently suppressed its 2011 Arab Spring protests. [see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/08/20/500-bahraini-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-over-conditions/]

“I am afraid, I am terrified of what it potentially means for me to travel back to Bahrain,” al-Khawaja told The Associated Press in an interview before her announcement. ”But if it means potentially saving my father’s life or for me to get to see him, if it means helping any number of political prisoners in Bahrain and bringing attention to their plight, then I’m willing to put my fear aside and do what is necessary to try and achieve that.”

Plans include her being accompanied by other human rights activists to ensure her safety. Several NGOs and personalities are considering to join. However, she faces a variety of charges still on the island, including what she described as unclear terrorism charges that could carry a life sentence. “I know that it carries very high consequences and high risks, my going back,” al-Khawaja said. ”I’ve reached a point where I can no longer sit around and wait for that phone call where I find out that my father has died in prison. … I have reached the point where I am willing to put myself and my physical safety at risk if that means that there’s any chance that I can save my father’s life.” She said her father was aware of her plans, as were other diplomats.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/bahraini-takes-risk-going-to-manama-to-save-hunger-striking

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Human Rights Defender Vladimir Kara-Murza arrested in Russia

April 14, 2022

Vladimir Kara-Murza, the Russian democracy activist, historian, twice-poisoned critic of Vladimir Putin’s regime, and a senior advisor to Human Rights First, was reportedly arrested near his Moscow residence on 11 April 2022.  Kara-Murza’s arrest came just days after his return to Russia and shortly after CNN broadcasted an interview with him. He is the winner of 3 human rights awards, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/34e43b60-3236-11ea-b4d5-37ffeeddd006

“We are deeply concerned for our friend Vladimir Kara-Murza’s personal safety, and we call on Russian authorities to release him immediately,” said Michael Breen, President and CEO of Human Rights First.  “Putin and his regime have shown themselves to be willing to break any law, domestic or international, to suppress political opposition at home and subjugate neighboring countries like Ukraine.  We call on all of democracy’s allies to oppose criminal behavior like this to protect human rights in Russia, Ukraine, and around the world.”

Having been targeted for assassination twice before, Kara-Murza knew his return to Russia put him in danger.  In his recent CNN interview, Kara-Murza said, “The biggest gift we could give…to the Kremlin would be just to give up and run…that’s all they want from us.”

https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/russian-human-rights-activist-vladimir-kara-murza-arrested-moscow

https://hrf.org/speakers/vladimir-kara-murza/

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India arrests Khurram Parvez again

November 23, 2021

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India arrested on Monday, 22 November 2021 prominent human rights defender Khurram Parvez after a day of extensive searches at his residence and office in Jammu and Kashmir capital Srinagar. He is an internationally recognized human rights defender, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/81468931-79AA-24FF-58F7-10351638AFE3

A family member told The Wire that Khurram’s residence in the city’s Sonawar locality was raided by NIA officials who were accompanied by local police and paramilitary troopers, on Monday morning. Another raid was carried out later in the day at his office in the Amira Kadal locality.

The raids were carried out in connection with a case (RC 30/2021) filed by the agency earlier this year.

Sources said the investigators confiscated Khurram’s mobile phone, laptop, some books and documents from his office and residence before taking him to the agency’s camp office in Srinagar’s Church Lane on Monday afternoon. “In the evening, we got a call to bring his clothes,” said a family member, adding that his wife and their son went to the office and handed his clothes to the officials there.

The NIA has not so far issued any statement on the arrest of Khurram, who is also the chairman of Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances. Sources said his family was handed the arrest memo on Monday evening and he is likely to be flown to New Delhi on Tuesday.

The United Nations said it was disturbed by the reports of Khurram’s arrest, “I’m hearing disturbing reports that  Khurram Parvez was arrested today in Kashmir & is at risk of being charged by authorities in #India with terrorism-related crimes. He’s not a terrorist, he’s a Human Rights Defender,” Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, tweeted. David Kaye, a former UN Special Rapporteur, said Khurram’s arrest under terrorism charges was “yet another extraordinary abuse in Kashmir.”

World Organisation Again Torture (OMCT), a Geneva based non-profit which works with groups across the world to fight for human rights, said it was “deeply concerned” by Khurram’s arrest, “We are deeply concerned about the high risk of torture while in custody. We call for his immediate release,” OMCT said in a tweet.
One of the most prominent rights defenders from Kashmir, Khurram has extensively worked on documenting the abuses allegedly committed both by security forces and militants in Kashmir as coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), a rights group based in Srinagar. See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2016/12/01/human-rights-defender-khurram-parvez-reluctantly-released-in-india/

The JKCCS has published more than a dozen reports on human rights abuses in Kashmir and its last report, ‘Kashmir’s Internet Siege’ focused on the mass detentions and the reported breakdown of the judicial system in Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of the reading down of Article 370. See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/02/09/forgotten-kashmir-something-has-to-be-done/

Khurram’s last tweet on August 30 this year was about a programme organised by Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances and its members countries across Asia who pledged “that truth will not be buried, disappeared won’t be ever forgotten & perpetrators will never be forgiven.”

However, India’s government resists any notion of having acted wrongly:

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the [UN] statement makes “baseless and unfounded allegations” against Indian security forces. “It also betrays a complete lack of understanding on the part of the OHCHR of the security challenges faced by India from cross-border terrorism and its impact on the most fundamental human right ‘the Right to Life’ of our citizens, including in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Asserting that all actions are undertaken in accordance with the law, he said, “We urge the OHCHR to develop a better understanding of the negative impact of terrorism on human rights.”

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/prominent-human-rights-activist-arrested-by-india-s-top-anti-terrorism-agency/9b91bc37-0dd2-48d4-aedc-b020fb36ea54

https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/valley-rights-activist-khurram-parvez-detained-by-nia/cid/1840157

https://thewire.in/rights/khurram-parvez-nia-arrest

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/un-criticises-disturbing-arrest-rights-activist-indian-kashmir-2021-11-23/

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/global-rights-bodies-call-for-release-of-kashmir-based-activist-khurram-parvez/article37640132.ece

https://thewire.in/diplomacy/un-ohchr-khurram-parvez-arrest-india-dismiss

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Palestinian human rights activist Nizar Banat dead after arrest and ill-treatment

June 26, 2021
Male relatives of Palestinian human rights activist Nizar Banat gather at the family home to mourn his death in Palestinian Authority custody
Male relatives of Palestinian human rights activist Nizar Banat gather at the family home to mourn his death in Palestinian Authority custody Mosab SHAWER AFP

On 24 June 2021, France24 reported that a Palestinian human rights activist Nizar Banat, 43, a PA critic from the city of Hebron, was arrested in a dawn raid Thursday by Palestinian security forces, Hebron governor Jibrin al-Bakri said. He died Thursday shortly after being arrested. His family reported that he was beaten to death.

“Following… a summons from the public prosecution to arrest citizen Nizar Khalil Muhammad Banat, a force from the security services arrested him at dawn,” Bakri said in a statement carried by the official WAFA news agency.

No reason was given for his arrest.

Banat’s family accused security forces of “hitting him on the head with wooden sticks and bits of iron” and “deliberately murdering” him, they told the Palestinian news site Quds.

The governor only said that during Banat’s arrest, “his health deteriorated”.

Banat was known for his videos posted on Facebook, in which he denounced alleged corruption in the PA. He had registered as a candidate in the Palestinian parliamentary election which had been due to be held in May before president Mahmud Abbas postponed it indefinitely.

Bakri gave no indication of the cause of death, but both he and prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said an investigation had been launched.

The European Union delegation to the Palestinians said it was “shocked and saddened” by Banat’s death, adding that a “full, independent and transparent investigation should be conducted immediately”. The EU had voiced concern last November after Banat spent four days in custody in Jericho, and again expressed concern in May after Palestinian security forces raided Banat’s home.

On Tuesday, another Hebron-based Palestinian human rights activist, Issa Amro, said he was briefly detained after posting criticism of political detentions on Facebook.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210624-activist-dies-in-palestinian-authority-custody-governor

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210724-pa-apologises-for-murder-of-activist-nizar-banat/

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Two welcome paroles in Russia and Zimbabwe but justice is still to be done

June 11, 2019

Having reported earlier on the Oyub Titiev case in Russia [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/03/19/human-rights-defender-in-chechnya-oyub-titiev-sentenced-to-4-years/] and that of the seven human rights defenders arrested in Zimbabwe [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/05/21/four-zimbabwe-human-rights-defenders-detained-at-at-the-mugabe-airport-on-their-return-from-foreign-trip/], I am now happy to report some progress:

Responding to news that Shali City Court in Chechnya has granted parole to the imprisoned human rights defender Oyub Titiev after almost one-and-a-half years behind bars, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia said: “We have been calling for Oyub Titiev’s immediate and unconditional release since his detention. The real agenda behind his criminal prosecution on trumped up charges was to stop a human rights defender from doing his lawful human rights work….In spite of overwhelming evidence that the case against him had been fabricated, the authorities in Chechnya crudely abused the justice system to convict an innocent man. Today the court decided to at least partially amend the gross injustice by releasing Oyub in ten days time.” “But if justice is to prevail, Oyub Titiev’s conviction should be quashed, and he must be given access to an effective remedy, including compensation, for his unlawful imprisonment.  “This decision comes just days after prominent Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov was detained and charged with supplying drugs amid allegations that he was framed, held incommunicado and beaten in custody. He is currently under house arrest and we call on his allegations against the authorities to be immediately investigated.”

High court Judge Justice Army Tsanga ordered for the release of the two activists seized at the Robert Mugabe International Airport upon arrival from Maldives. The state is alleging that the accused are members of the civil society organizations who connived with their accomplices went to Maldives where they underwent a training workshop by a Serbian non-governmental organisation called Center for Applied Non-Violent Action Strategies (Canvas) with intend to subvert a constitutionally elected government.

———-

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/06/russia-titievs-parole-a-welcome-step-but-not-justice/

Breaking: Five Zim ‘Terrorists’ Out On Bail

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Four Zimbabwe human rights defenders detained at at the Mugabe Airport on their return from foreign trip

May 21, 2019
Police have arrested four human rights activists at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on their return from a foreign trip. Police officers also took away cellphones and laptops belonging to the activists. In a statement on Tuesday, 21 May 2019 Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) spokesman Kumbirai Mafunda said: “They were detained upon disembarking from a South African flight at Robert Mugabe International Airport last night and held for several hours without access to their lawyers”. Lawyers were only allowed access to them 5 hours hours after they were arrested.

The four are George Makoni, 38, advocacy officer for the NGO Centre for Community Development Zimbabwe; Tatenda Mombeyarara, 37, coordinator for lobby group Citizens Manifesto; Gamuchirai Mukura, 31, executive director of Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD); and Nyasha Mpahlo, 35, governance officer at Transparency International Zimbabwe.

The arrest of the human rights activists follows a report carried in State daily publications, The Herald and Chronicle that suggested that civic organisations are plotting to cause mayhem in the country. The Herald ran a story claiming that “a group of shady organisations with links to the (main opposition) MDC-Alliance has been hard at work laying the groundwork for civil unrest to be unleashed next month.” The newspaper said some activists had attended a workshop on the Maldives archipelago that was conducted by a non-profit Serbian organisation, Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS).

The civil society alliance Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition condemned the latest arrests. It said in a statement: “The police, government and state media have been colluding to criminalise the work of human rights defenders, laying unfounded allegations against civil society leaders as agents of regime change who want to topple the government.”

On 27 May 2019 ZW News adds that two more human rights defenders were arrested: https://zwnews.com/human-rights-arrested-at-harare-international-airport/

https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/four-human-rights-activists-arrested-in-zimbabwe-23677924

Govt Goes After Human Rights Activists

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Human Rights Defenders in Tanzania start public education campaign re arrest

January 22, 2019
THRDC national coordinator Mr Onesmo Ole

THRDC national coordinator Mr Onesmo Ole Ngurumo
Josephine Christopher reports that two human rights groups have initiated a special campaign on Tuesday, 22 January 2019, seeking to encourage the public to speak against violation of rights of suspects when they get arrested by the police force. The campaign titled: “Tetea haki za watuhimiwa (Defend the rights of suspects)” is a brainchild of the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) in association with the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC). [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2014/04/09/journalists-get-training-in-africa-examples-from-tanzania-and-south-sudan/]

Speaking in Dar es Salaam, the THRDC national coordinator Mr Onesmo Ole Ngurumo said violation of rights of suspects – held by law enforcers – was becoming a new normal in Tanzania, citing the recent ‘unlawful’ detention of three human rights defenders and two citizens at the Loliondo Police Station. “While in custody, the suspects were badly beaten badly. Besides, though they needed emergency medical care, the police continued to hold them in cells until their fellow inmates start rioting for their rights,” he said “Putting suspects under police custody for more than 24 hours without any legal assistance is a violation of human rights, considering that police don’t have the skills and resources to hold people for such long time,” he said.

https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/1840340-4946342-j0nrz/index.html

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