The Amed (tr: Diyarbakır) Branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD) shared its report on “Human Rights Violations in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Region in 2025” with the public. The report revealed that at least 2,671 violations occurred in the region throughout the year.
IHD Amed Branch Co-Chair Ercan Yılmaz stated that one of the main causes of these violations is the failure to achieve a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue.
Violations have become systematic
The report emphasized that the violations recorded throughout 2025 were not isolated incidents, but have gained continuity and systematic character by concentrating in specific areas.
According to IHD, security-oriented policies, discriminatory rhetoric, and repressive practices have deepened human rights violations, particularly against the local population.
The report highlighted violations of the right to life, including allegations of extrajudicial killings, deaths in prisons, suspicious deaths, workplace accidents, and deaths resulting from official negligence.
On the other hand, severe violations such as torture, ill-treatment, threats, and coercion to become informants continue in detention centers, prisons, and outside custody.
At least 588 detained, 81 imprisoned
According to the report, at least 588 people were detained in the region in 2025, 81 of whom were imprisoned. Those detained included children.
IHD reported that numerous house raids were carried out and that investigations and prosecutions were initiated over activities within the scope of freedom of expression.
Violations against prisoners, women and children
Regarding the violations in prison, the report stated that practices such as forced transfers, problems in accessing healthcare, restrictions on communication, bans on social activities, disciplinary penalties, and isolation continue.
Violence against women and femicides persisted in 2025, while violence, sexual abuse, and rights violations against children occupied a significant place in the report.
Peace and democratic society process
IHD emphasized that a significant portion of the human rights violations in the region is linked to the failure to resolve the Kurdish issue through democratic and peaceful means.
The report stated that the ongoing Peace and Democratic Society Process represents an important opportunity to end the period of conflict, but has not yet progressed to a level that would build trust in society.
Lasting peace also requires legal guarantees
The report also drew attention to the debate on the “right to hope,” criticizing the failure to implement European Court of Human Rights rulings and the lack of alignment with international standards regarding aggravated life imprisonment.
IHD stressed that achieving lasting peace requires not only the end of conflict but also legal guarantees, confronting past human rights violations, and ensuring the inclusion of all segments of society in the process.