Türkiye: Free Imprisoned Human Rights Defender
Nimet Tanrıkulu is a prominent human rights defender and founding member of Human Rights Association who has been active in Türkiye’s human rights community for several decades including campaigning with Saturday Mothers/People, the group of relatives of victims of enforced disappearances and their supporters for truth, justice and accountability.
On 26 November 2024, police raided Nimet Tanrıkulu’s home in early hours and detained her in the context of an ongoing criminal investigation which is subject to a secrecy order. On the same day, she was transferred to Ankara by officers from the Ankara Security Directorate’s anti-terrorism branch. 12 others, including politicians, trade unionists and others were also detained in the context of the same investigation. On 30 November 2024, Nimet Tanrıkulu and eight others were remanded in pre-trial detention under Article 314/2 of the Turkish Penal Code for ‘membership of a terrorist organization’ by the Ankara Criminal Judgeship of Peace No. 4. The remaining four were released, with judicial controls including reporting to a police station and foreign travel ban.
On 12 December 2024, an Ankara prosecutor submitted an indictment asking that Tanrıkulu is prosecuted for “membership of a terrorist organization”, based on vague inferences rather than solid evidence, namely her historic travel, participation in civil society events relating to Kurdish human rights issues during the 2013/14 peace process, mobile phone signals from same base station as other individuals and witness statements. An Ankara court accepted the indictment but simultaneously ruled that it had no jurisdiction, due to Nimet Tanrıkulu’s place of residence and location of her detention being Istanbul. On 3 January, the prosecution file was sent to Istanbul and accepted by the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 24. Nimet Tanrıkulu remained in Ankara’s Sincan women’s prison.
States are duty bound to protect human rights defenders in the course of their work to prevent human rights violations, report them when they occur, and to provide an enabling environment for their work as defenders. Authorities must ensure criminal investigations, detentions and prosecutions are not misused to target human rights defenders as such proceedings are unjust for the individuals and may create a chilling effect on all those who speak out about possible human rights abuses. States’ duty to protect and promote human rights includes the creation of this enabling environment for human rights defenders as outlined in the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
In the past, Amnesty International has documented how anti-terrorism laws and trumped-up coup related charges have been used to target and silence peaceful, legitimate dissent in Türkiye. Prominent journalists, academics, human rights defenders and other civil society actors were subjected to arbitrary detention, prosecutions and, if found guilty in unfair trials, face long sentences.