The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) expresses serious concern about the recent detention of human rights defenders and trainers at a workshop in Turkey on 05 July. We stand in solidarity with all human rights defenders including our colleagues and friends who were detained or otherwise affected by this crackdown in Turkey.
Eight rights defenders, including prominent members of the women’s movement, and two trainers were arrested at a digital security workshop on 05 July 2017 after Turkish police raided the Ascot hotel on the Island of Buyukada. All ten individuals were held incommunicado for over 24 hours, with later reports indicating that they were being held in five different locations.
There is no information about the other nine detainees who include GCHR’s friend and supporter Özlem Dalkıran of the Citizens’ Assembly, as well as Nalan Erkem, a lawyer for the Citizens Assembly. The others are İlknur Üstün of the Women's Coalition, lawyer Günal Kurşun and Veli Acu, both of Human Rights Agenda Association, Nejat Taştan of Equal Rights Watch Association, and lawyer Şeyhmuz Özbekli. The trainers are Ali Gharawi and Peter Steudtner, both IT consultants.
The GCHR condemns in the strongest terms the continued imprisonment of the human rights defenders and trainers which is solely due to their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.
3.	Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders and their organizations in Turkey are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.