Ahmet Altan, an imprisoned Turkish writer and journalist, has topped the December 2020 ranking of the One Free Press Coalition’s “10 Most Urgent” list of press freedom cases. Altan, described by Amnesty International as a “prisoner of conscience”, was first arrested in September 2016 as part of the Turkish government’s media purge following the failed coup d’état. He was accused of encouraging planners of the coup with “subliminal messages” via … Read more →
Middle East & North Africa
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Rojava hands over 30 children of ISIS-linked parents to Russian authorities
The Kurdish-led administration of Rojava has handed 30 children of ISIS-linked parents over to Russian authorities. This is the fourth repatriation by Moscow in the last few months. The children were between the ages of two and 14 and were previously in camps in north-east Syria. Out of the 70,000 people who live in the north-east Syrian camps al-Hol and Roj, 13,000 are non-Iraqi foreign nationals. In al-Hol, 94% of … Read more →
Calls for Western governments to repatriate nationals in Syrian detention camps
Western governments are being called upon to repatriate nationals who are in detention camps in Northeast Syria. An open letter signed by over 200 academics urges Western governments to take responsibility for their citizens and end the deprivation of citizenship of European nationals. Syria’s al-Hol and al-Roj camps hold over 65,000 people who have faced devastation from ongoing fighting in Syria or Iraq. Within this, approximately 3,000 women and 7,000 … Read more →
Covid-19 and Iran’s imprisoned dual and foreign nationals
At least 10 dual and foreign nationals or Iranian citizens are known to be imprisoned in Iran as of April 2020, according to research by the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. Despite the fact that many of them have serious health issues only two – Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and … Read more →
President Erdoğan has purged the press, now he’s going after social media
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced he will press ahead with his government’s controversial plans aimed at regulating social media companies. On some level, the plans are in line with wider discussions across Europe and the United … Read more →