Date Type Case No Country 06/05/11 TUR 2/2011 JUA Turkey Mandate(s) Summary of the allegation transmitted Reply Arbitrary detention; Human rights defenders; Independence of judges and lawyers; Minority issues; Terrorism Alleged detention of human rights defenders and irregularities during their trial. 29/07/11 According to the information received, Mr. Muharrem Erbey, General Vice-President of human rights association Insan Haklari Dernegi (IHD), Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede, IHD members at the Diyarbakir branch, had been held in pre-trial detention awaiting the twentieth session of their trial before the Diyarbakir Serious Felony Court on 26 May 2011. Ms. Vetha Aydin, President of the IHD’s Siirt province branch, was reportedly released on 15 March for lack of evidence following a court order; however, the charges against her were still pending. Between 23 December 2009 and April 2010, Mr. Erbey, Mr. Özdemir, Ms. Erdede and Ms. Aydin were reportedly arrested by officers of anti-terrorism units as part of an anti-terrorism operation conducted across eleven provinces in Turkey, the objective of which was to dismantle the banned “Community of Kurdish Society”, a branch of the armed “Kurdish Workers’ Party” (“Parti Karkerani Kurdistan” – PKK). The aforementioned human rights defenders were reportedly charged with being members of an illegal organization. Reportedly, throughout the trial of Mr. Erbey, Mr. Özdemir, Ms. Erdede and Ms. Aydin, which began on 18 October 2010, there were a number of irregularities with regards to international judicial standards. The situation of Mr. Erbey was the subject of an earlier communication (see A/HRC/16/44/Add.1 para 2284). A/HRC/18/51 105