HRJP Human Rights Joint Platform
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The detention of Mehmet Sıddık Akış, the mayor of Hakkari, earlier this week (June 3, 2024) and the appointment of a trustee to the DEM Party-affiliated municipality is a grave interference with democratic values, the exercise of constitutional political rights and the will to live together.
It is a fundamental violation of the law and contrary to universal human rights norms that local administrators, who were elected by the will of the people of Hakkari through legitimate elections, should be subjected to an investigation that was opened 10 years ago and left almost in ashes, at a time when there is an expectation of a softening in the political environment, and that the mayor should be dismissed as if a verdict has been rendered as soon as he is taken into custody, without waiting for the outcome of the case. Political rights are among fundamental human rights. Interference with these rights is not justified in free and democratic countries.
With the bans declared in many provinces following the decision to appoint trustees, the constitutional freedom of assembly of citizens is also eliminated. We condemn the interventions against human rights defenders and civilians who are currently in Hakkari to monitor the developments, the blockade of the courthouse by security forces, the police violence against the human rights delegation headed by Human Rights Association President Hüseyin Küçükbalaban, a member of our Platform, and the refusal to allow them to enter the courthouse. As the Joint Platform for Human Rights, we will continue to defend human rights with all segments of society.
We follow the intervention by the Governorate against the publicity of the hearing with attention and sensitivity. We call on state bodies to fulfill their obligations to respect the rights and freedoms of human rights defenders!
Association for Monitoring Equal Rights, Rights Initiative Association, Human Rights Association, Human Rights Agenda Association, Citizens’ Association
