M.Raci Bilici, İHD’s Vice President and Diyarbakır Branch President, was detained at 06.00 a.m. on 15 March 2017 at home. His home was raided and he was taken to the Anti-Terror Branch of Diyarbakır Pronvincial Police Department. Our executives and lawyers accessed to Mr. Bilici inside the Police Department. We were informed that there was a confidentiality order on the investigation. Moreover, neither he himself nor our lawyers were able to get any information about why the detention took place.

With the state of emergency continuing for the last 8 months, basic human rights and freedoms have been systematically violated and suppressed. Politicians, academicians, journalists, authors, teachers, intellectuals, students, and union members from all social groups have been detained and arrested unjustly. The actions of NGOs who object to these unjust acts are almost stopped and prevented; and human rights defenders suffer from threat, suppression, detention, arrests and suspension from work in this period.

M.Raci Bilici, our Vice President and Diyarbakır Branch President, had formerly been subject to libellous news by the pro-government media outlets, threatened and targeted by unidentified or anonymous persons, and was eventually detained today.

Human Rights Association, since founded in 1986, has struggled to develop the culture and awareness about human rights, and under any circumstance, stood on the victim’s side against the violator. As the oldest one and having the most widespread branch net, IHD is one of the most dynamic powers of Turkish Human Rights Movement.

Each member, executive, or activist within IHD fights fearlessly for democracy in terms of right to life and freedom of expression, rights of the child and women, rights of LGBTI, migration, refuge, and against torture, forced disappearances, murder by unknown assailants, discrimination and etc.

This holistic approach of IHD towards human rights and its struggle has made it a target. This kind of government policy has always considered human rights activists and defenders as dangerous domestic enemies. IHD’s works are the ones that are aimed at solve the human rights and democracy problems of Turkey. These efforts are basically critical and objective. Therefore, strict bureaucracy and governments have felt uncomfortable with this approach. As a result, security forces have suppressed our members; many of them have been killed, attacked, arrested or imprisoned unjustly. The arbitrary treatment towards those activists, who have never expected a personal benefit and fought against suppression and threats for the sake of human rights, is inacceptable as well as against the UN’s Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

On the other hand, the statement made today by the Diyarbakır Office of Chief Public Prosecutor is considerably dire. It is unacceptable for our association itself and its actions to be introduced as though they were allegedly linked to illegal organisations.

It is absolutely intolerable to treat the human rights defenders illegally right after we published important reports on violations, having occurred in Turkey, in the international arena, within the UN and the Council of Europe in particular. We call international community and human rights defenders to be sensitive on this issue.

We would like to make it clear that we are the human rights defenders and activists that work and struggle for the sake of basic human rights, freedom and security of people. We have not given in to the pressures so far, and will not do so in the future.

In this regard, in these days when the Government has been referring to human rights documents and calling for respect to human rights due to some recent diplomatic crises, we invite the Government and judicial authorities to be respectful to human rights. We strongly condemn this unjust and illegal detention of Mr. Bilici, and demand that he be released immediately.

HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION (HRA) DİYARBAKIR BRANCH