Dear Friends and Supporters,

Since our last report, KHRP has been busy working with women and advocates throughout the Kurdish Regions to promote human rights and accessing justice. This work comes at a crucial time as the situation between Governments and Kurdish groups is under pressure in both Turkey and Syria.

Over the last few months Turkey has experienced familiar kidnappings, PKK and Turkish force retaliations, terrorist bombings, mass detentions of Turkish Kurds, and hostility between Turkish and Kurdish civilians in major cities. Similarly, the up-rising against the Government in Syria continues to escalate and has resulted in the death of around 3,000 people, the injury of over 20,000 people and the detention, abuse, torture and ill treatment of thousands more.

During these times of conflict and tension it is easy to lose focus of other existing human rights omissions, such as those that women in the Kurdish Regions face every day. Furthermore, as the condition worsens in these countries, the rights of women are threatened even more as they and their families are exposed to the results of conflict, such as persecution for their beliefs, ill treatment and torture and extrajudicial detention and imprisonment without access to lawyers and family. The sustained work of KHRP is important during this time to empower and protect the women of Turkey and Syria, as well as the rest of the Kurdish Regions.

Next month in Iraq, KHRP, in partnership with local partner CDO, will be facilitating a ‘Violence Against Women And State Obligations – Focus On Women In Conflict’ training for lawyers and advocates. The aim of this training is to build knowledge and a practical understanding of how to apply the basic standards and obligations set out in key international human rights instruments to prevent and address violence against women in conflict situations.

Back home, KHRP has continued to work with and provide advice to other organisations who seek a more in-depth knowledge of the conditions that women in the Kurdish Regions face. Finally, KHRP was awarded the prestigious Gruber Prize for Justice on 6 October 2011 at a ceremony in Philadelphia. KHRP was recognised for its use of a variety of legal instruments in protecting human rights and seeking redress for violations, including bringing cases on behalf of hundreds of applicants at the European Court of Human Rights and its on the ground field missions.

Through your support, you can help us continue to make a difference in the lives of women throughout the Kurdish Regions.

Thank you...

Links:

• KHRP Collects Prestigious Gruber Prize for Justice

Dear Supporters,

On 19 October 2011, GlobalGiving is having a Bonus Day and will be matching all donations made through their site with an extra 30%!!! This means for every $1 you donate to the Kurdish Human Rights Project we will receive $1.30. What better time to support the activities of KHRP as we provide access to justice and human rights for women in the Kurdish Regions!

Matched funding begins at 12.01am EDT and will be applied to donations up to $1,000 per donor / per project.

Spread the word and donate now to support women in the Kurdish Regions.

Thank you...

Over the course of the last 3 months, Access to Justice for Women in the Kurdish Regions has focused on highlighting barriers to justice for the women it serves. On 20 May 2011, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted concluding observations following its review of Turkey's initial report on the implementation of the rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In advance of this review, KHRP had raised a number of concerns about Turkey’s compliance with its obligations under the Covenant by submitting a list of issues which are attached, and highlighted the significant barriers to education and employment that impeded women from enjoying their full economic rights. KHRP welcomed the expressed concerns and the below recommendations/ requests by the Committee: 'The Committee recalls article 3 of the Covenant as well as it general comment No. 16 on the equal rights of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights, and calls on the State party to: (a) raise public awareness about gender equality and adopt the necessary measures, legislative or otherwise, with a view to changing prejudices and perception about gender roles; (b) expand the supply of day-care services; (c) adopt the quota system in various areas to accelerate women’s representation in political life and in the labour market; (d) monitor, in collaboration with civil society organizations, the impacts of all measures taken on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights of women by collecting specific data on the results of all its programmes and measures to promote gender equality. The Committee requests the State party to include in its next periodic report information on the impact of measures taken to enhance women’s representation in the formal economy and on the outcomes of the monitoring and evaluation of the Gender Equality Plan. The Committee requests the State party to include in its next periodic report information on the incidence of sexual harassment in the workplace as well as statistical data on cases of sexual harassment brought to the criminal and the labour courts, including information on indictments and sentences in this regard. ' KHRP also attended the Committee’s review of Turkey’s report which took place in Geneva on 3 and 4 May 2011 and met with Gabriela Guzman,a representative of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Its Causes and Consequences, who noted that we and our partners should feel encouraged to make more submissions about trends in violence against women in the Kurdish regions, as she felt that there was a dearth of reporting on this geographical area. KHRP discussed the type of information the Rapporteur would find useful and is currently working with its partners to prepare new submissions. In June, the Project participated in Panel discussion at the British Film Institute discussing the film Son of Babylon. This film touched on the specific difficulties women face in conflict areas. Because many of the women we work for lack formal education, they find it particularly difficult to engage with the formal sector when looking for family members from whom they've been separated over conflict and often find that because they may not speak the language of the state, their requests are ignored. There was an interesting discussion about the gendered barriers for poor women in Iraq, many of whom are unable to find their missing loved ones. Finally, the project has been in close contact with its partners in Syria as the situation there deteriorates. Women in Syria are both direct victims of state violence, ill treatment and torture, extrajudicial detention and imprisonment without access to lawyers and family, and also indirect victims of violence perpetrated against male family members. Women are unable to make contact with and even locate their husbands, sons, fathers and brothers, for fear of reprisal against the family and because the legal system treats their concerns as invalid. Unfortunately, as unrest continues to spread, the Project anticipates more harrowing stories to come.

Links:

• UN CESCR - 46th Session Findings on Turkey

• KHRP Submission to the 46th Session of the CESCR (PDF)
  

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We would like to give a huge thank you to all of those who have supported the project and let you know that you are helping women in the Kurdish regions achieve justice and redress and to prevent future violations of their rights.

In March 2011, KHRP’s Legal Associate, Saniye Karakas gave a presentation to local lawyers in Tblisi, Georgia, on laws in Turkey relating to women’s human rights. The workshop focused on issues such as domestic violence, rape and trafficking and in particular on violence against women in Turkey, specifically looking at the domestic legal framework and its effectiveness in practice. The presentation provided a brief overview of the domestic laws relating to the topic, discuss the broader social context within which they lie, and evaluate the implementation of these laws.

Throughout the region, women are vulnerable to a wide range of human rights abuses such as violence and ill-treatment, forced labour, trafficking, and denial of access to justice.  Furthermore, where domestic legislation does not afford them appropriate protection or remedies, women can be denied access to legal redress both in theory and practice.

The project also marked International Women’s Day by raising awareness around the difficulties women have in accessing justice in the Kurdish regions. Whether they are in Turkey, Iraq, Iran or Syria, women face an uphill battle in their respective legal systems.  Laws, court’s interpretations of laws as well as administrative and social practices all contribute to women not being able to realize their basic human rights.

 The project has closely followed the case in Turkey of a man who ran over his 17 year old pregnant wife and killed her because she had been raped by his brother.  KHRP was the only international observer at case which began in August 2009 and continues today. In this case, the state failed to uphold its commitment to human rights law concerned with gender based violence and discrimination. KHRP was disturbed to learn from its partner organisation the Van Women’s Association that at the most recent hearing on the 21 February 2011, a fight broke out between Pesen’s family and the accused, and the security in the courtroom battered the victim’s family. This horrific killing of Eylem Pesen again highlights the fact that much more needs to be done to improve the situation on women’s rights in the region and to insure the authorities upholds their stated aims of protection of women from violent abuse.

In addition, just over a week ago, a 13 year old girl’s abusers in Mardin were given reduced sentences for her rape because she was deemed willing.  The Court gave no consideration of her age and the fact that she deserved special protection as a child.  In the trial and it was reported that she was made to re-enact sexual positions in one of the hearings where she gave testimony.

Women across the Kurdish regions deserve much more from their governments and those charged with implementing the law.  The project urges governments in the region to ensure that women’s rights are considered integral to the advancement of human rights as a whole.  Equally, the international community has an obligation to support the networks of men and women working support these rights.

• Presentation on Violence Against Women (PDF)
  

We would like to give you some news on how the project has progressed in November and December thanks to your generous support.

 In November, KHRP Legal Associate Saniye Karakaş led a roundtable meeting in Van, Turkey. The meeting was hosted by KHRP partner VAKAD (Van Kadin Dernegi) and brought together 15 male and female human right defenders and representatives of civil society groups working on women’s rights in Turkey and other Kurdish regions to discuss key issues and sharing tactics. “An important topic of discussion that emerged was the issue of women refugees, which is a problem across the Kurdish regions.

 We were delighted that one of the outcomes of this meeting is an inter-NGO/CSO exchange programme where NGOs from across the Kurdish regions, not just in Turkey, will do 1 month exchanges of staff to develop their skill sets and further develop relationships across borders to help combat and prevent abuses of human rights and develop tactics to promote and protect women’s rights.

 In December the project took the issue of justice for women in the Kurdish regions to the European Parliament in a seminar delivered to MEPs and representatives of the European Commission. The discussion focused on how women throughout the Kurdish regions are disproportionately affected by crimes against their person and their property, and continue to face a range of barriers to accessing legal remedies that are theoretically available to them. Issues addressed included language barriers, a lack of awareness amongst women of their rights, severe failings in the provision of legal aid and medical examinations, and the routine failure of officials to take complaints by women seriously and to implement legislation intended to afford them protection. The seminar sought to provide recommendations on how state authorities, such as the police, legislators, prosecutors or judges, can increase their protection of women victims of discrimination and violence, and to consider potential action points for the European Union to take.

 As the year comes to a close, we would like to thank all of you who have supported this vital work and helped to raise an amazing £4,164 / $6,745 to enable more and more women to access their rights.

Dear Supporters and Donors,

Last year, your generous donations and support enabled KHRP's project to secure a permanent place on the Global Giving network by raising nearly £3,000 for our project Access to Justice for Women in the Kurdish Regions. Since then, we have have  posted a new project helping 1000’s of people affected by the construction of the Ilısu Dam in Turkey.

This month, the US site www.GlobalGiving.org is back with a new challenge, with $100,000 available in matching funds to be awarded to projects.  Running from Oct 12, 2010 between 12:00 am and Oct 21, 2010 11:59 pm EDT (GMT-4) or until matching funds run out, it will match all donations at 30%, 40%, or 50%.

 The match percentage is based on the size of the donation so the bigger the donation, the more they will match it with (see below)

If you’d like to take part and help the project to get more for your money, click on the links above and make a donation to project of your choice.

“We were overwhelmed by the support that we receive last year and impressed by how people dug deep to help these projects,” said Managing Director Rachel Bernu. “The situation for women across the Kurdish regions, and the prospect of the damage to human rights and the environment that the Ilisu Dam will bring, are 2 areas of key concern to the KHRP, and this challenge comes at a much-needed time as funding for charities is scarce”.

To all our supporters,

First of all we’d like to say a big thank you to all those of you who have made a contribution in support of this project and its journey towards attaining justice for women in the Kurdish region. We are pleased to announce that the project is also now up and running on the Global Giving US site, and has already generated some donations there.

Since our last report in June KHRP has been very busy working towards improving the situation for women in the Kurdish regions and investigating what kind of abuses are occurring and how to prevent them. In July, Turkey's report to the UN on the situation of women's rights was examined by the CEDAW Committee (Convention to Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women), and this gave an opportunity for us to submit a 'shadow' report on this issue to be considered along side the state report.

As cases of violence against women and gender inequalities in education keep appearing, it is all the more important highlight these issues and provide tools and support for women and the groups that serve them. Young Kurdish girls, already afforded fewer educational opportunities, enter school with no knowledge of the Turkish language and no additional help, resulting in them dropping out of the education system early and therefore lacking confidence in how to deal with real life issues such as health care or future employment.

Violence against women continues to be pervasive, and it is important to highlight the incidences of abuse where they occur and encourage free speech on these issues to enable women to seek justice in the knowledge that they will be listened to. A recent report of a case involved the confiscation of a Kurdish newspaper was ordered after it reported a woman’s claims that she had been raped by four plain-clothed Diyarbakir police officers. The woman alleged that she had been raped due to her activities with the Democratic Free Women’s Movement (DOKH) and similar reports of the rape of four other women by police officers that same week were consequently either denied or swept under the carpet. KHRP and other organizations have repeatedly asked for Turkey to investigate all allegations of violence, punish perpetrators and protect women against such treatment and will continue to do so until claims like these are taken seriously.

The project will address these issues in a roundtable meeting with women's organizations towards the end of the year, and hope to bring you news of that in our next report. In the meantime, keep spreading the word and supporting the right of all women in the Kurdish regions to seek justice and be heard.

Thank you

Anna Irvin – Project manager

In 2010, the project has continued to work to enable women in the Kurdish regions to access the justice that they are so often denied, using our holistic, multi-dimensional approach to promote empowerment, equality and awareness of the particular barriers that women face. This has been achieved through a combination of building knowledge and skills among human rights advocates and women's groups in Turkey, strategic litigation & advocacy helping people understand and use the international human rights mechanisms that exist for their protection, and finally by continuing to shine a light on the abuse and problems that women face so that there is greater awareness of their situation.

In January, a KHRP representative travelled to Geneva to participate in the events surrounding the meeting of the 45th session of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Committee. In the Kurdish regions, as elsewhere, it is so often the case that existing or new legal provisions safeguarding women’s rights are effectively rendered impotent as there are rarely sufficient measures put in place to ensure that the legislation is implemented. Accordingly, the committee focused on the need to ensure that positive formal institutional provisions (ie. progressive legal reforms) are complemented by appropriate measures to ensure substantive implementation in practise.

In February, the project held a UK-based event designed to increase the capacity and encourage the spread of international women’s rights activism and advocacy. This took the form of a London workshop, introduced by Claire Short MP, entitled ‘Capacity Building: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). KHRP will also convene in-country and cross-border roundtable meetings and trainings in conjunction with local partner NGOs and regional women’s rights organisations working with Kurdish communities. This will give them a valuable forum in which to share their experiences and ideas for tackling violence and other forms of human rights abuse and build tactics to break down cultural taboos surrounding this sensitive subject.

Women throughout Turkey, and Kurds in particular, continue to face a variety of barriers that effectively exclude them from full participation in social, political and economic life. Kurdish women experience substantial disadvantages, such as in their access to equal employment opportunities and in properly accessing state health and judicial provisions. Moreover, the government continues to fall short of the mark in tackling the gender-based violence that remains so pervasive throughout Turkey. The project took the opportunity on International Women’s Day on the 8th March, to call for greater efforts to secure the equal rights and opportunities of women in the Kurdish regions to education, employment and political representation. We also participated in discussions hosted by both the UN and the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), contributing to the FCO’s ‘Women’s Working Group in Iraq’ and to the discussions that centred around the 54th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The session focused on a 15-year assessment of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action as well as the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly. As part of proceedings, KHRP submitted a report to the CSW in which we detailed our major concerns in relation to the situation of women in Turkey. These ‘shadow’ reports enable another side of the story to be told and give women a chance to voice their experience without fear of reprisal.

A significant portion of this submission was dedicated to the barriers faced by women, especially Kurdish women, in gaining effective access to state judicial functions. It was noted here that this is particularly the case in situations of domestic violence, a problem of alarming prevalence in contemporary Turkey. This issue was detailed in depth by KHRP with the publication of The Trial of Kerem Çakan: The Turkish Judiciary and Honour Killings, which presented the findings and wider investigations of a KHRP trial observation mission that took place in 2009. The case involved the murder of a young pregnant woman by her spouse in an attack that bore all the hallmarks of a so-called ‘honour killing’. However, the jury neglected to consider the crime as such, and both the police and judiciary neglected further avenues of investigation that may have indicted the murder in this way. The findings of the delegation reflect a wider systemic failure on the part of the Turkish state to uphold commitments to regional and international human rights law concerned with gender-based discrimination and violence in particular. Furthermore it suggested that the state has failed to ensure women’s access to its protective and judicial powers in opposing widespread gender-based violence and honour killings.

Finally, KHRP worked further to enable women to access justice through our strategic litigation programme, working on cases at the European Court of Human Rights to ensure that individuals gain justice when the domestic legal system has failed them.

• CEDAW Shadow Report (PDF)
  

KHRP would like to say a big thank you to all of those who supported us throughout November's Challenge.

We've raised a mighty £2,481 from 85 people so far and now have a permanent place on the Global Giving network which will help raise further awareness and promote the protection of Women's rights.

We look forward to updating you on how the project progresses thanks to your support.

From all at KHRP