Press release
A delegation of European lawyers will visit Diyarbakir from 21st to 24th January 2016. The 13 participants come from Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Austria. Two European lawyers’ organisations are supporting this initiative, the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH) and the European Democratic Lawyers (EDL) and also the “Unione delle Camere Penali Italiane”
Continue reading “European Lawyers Delegation visits Diyarbakir”
November 28, 2015
The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), a non-governmental organization with consultative status to the Council on Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (ECOSOC), and the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (ELDH) are shocked and outraged by the brutal murder this morning of our colleague Tahir Elçi, president of the Diyarbakir Bar Association.
Continue reading “Statement of the IADL & ELDH on the assassination of Tahir Elçi”
We welcome this action by ELDH European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, in response to a call from the Diyarbakir Bar Association regarding the urgent situation in Cizre, where a curfew has been in place since 4th September.
Italian-based lawyer Ms Barbara Spinelli, will go to Turkey support the democratic forces in Turkey by attending a peaceful march to Cizre. She will monitor the situation there in order to produce a report addressed to European institutions and civil society, as well as to the organs of United Nations, especially those competent for protection of women’s rights. She will arrive tonight. She has been working for months on the situation of women in Rojava where she led a fact finding mission in March this year. Her report has been presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Here are the statements:
Continue reading “ELDH sends lawyer to Cizre following Diyarbakir Bar Association call for action”
[updated – 30 August 2013]
European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH) Statement on Syria and potential military strikes:
30 August 2013
AN ALLEGED CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED BY AN ILLEGAL USE OF FORCE
The European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH), with members in 18 European countries, is absolutely opposed to the proposed use of illegal force by Western powers against the Syrian regime.
The US government is leading a call for military action against Syria which will of necessity kill civilians, with the ostensible purpose of showing the Syrian government that by killing large numbers of civilians (allegedly with chemical weapons) they have crossed a “red line” and must be punished.
Continue reading “Military strikes against Syria ‘a violation of UN Charter’ – ELDH”
After the arrests on Tuesday of at least 47 lawyers at Caglayan Court in Istanbul who were issuing a statement regarding the Gezi Park protests, the European Association for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH); the Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC); and the Law Society of England and Wales have all issued statements in support of their colleagues.
All three statements are available below.
European Association for Democracy and Human Rights
London – Düsseldorf, 12 June 2013
Press release
European Lawyers protestContinue reading “Lawyers’ associations rally around arrested colleagues in Istanbul”
The European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (ELDH) has published this statement condemning the recent mass arrests in Turkey of human rights advocates, trade unionists, lawyers, and journalists, and demanding the release of all political prisoners, including Abdullah Ocalan. If you want to keep it on file, we have made it available for download (pdf).
Düsseldorf – London, 30 June 2012
ELDH is gravely concerned about the ongoing wave of arrests in Turkey.
Some 8.000 politicians, trade-unionists, journalists, artists, students, human rights activists as well as their lawyers have been the victims of mass arrests in Turkey since 2009. Most of them have been arrested as part of the KCK operation mounted by the Turkish Government. The KCK or Union of Communities in Kurdistan is a Kurdish organization, founded by Abdullah Öcalan, which is suspected by the Turkish Government of collaboration with the PKK. The arrests took place on the basis of the Turkish Anti-Terror Law of 1991.
In a response to the concerned request of the European Commission, the Turkish government acknowledged in October 2011 only the continued detention of 605 persons. Many others are facing long prison sentences. Although the European Union has expressed its concern, the wave of arrests is still going on. Continue reading “EUROPEAN LAWYERS: Protest against ongoing arrests in Turkey”
