Ebru Timtik, 42, a Turkish human rights lawyer who had been in hunger strike for 238 days died on August 27, 2020. She died at Istanbul’s Silvri Prison where she was sentenced for 13 years and six months. Timtik was alleged for being involved with the Marxist Organisation called the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) and supposed as a member of the Contemporary Lawyers’ Association (CHD), a leftist group accused of having close ties with the far-left Marxist Militant organization.
In 2019, an Istanbul court handed multiple sentences to 18 lawyers, including Timtik, on charges of “forming and running a terror group” and “membership in a terror group.” Timtik had started the hunger strike from January 2, 2020, and was joined by Aytac Unsal from February 2, 2020, for a fair investigation and trial. Timtik, who turned her hunger strike into a death fast together with another lawyer, was moved from the prison to a hospital in July. The pair were consuming only liquids and vitamins, and a forensic report showed at the time that their condition was “not suitable” for a continued stay in prison. Timtik was only 30kgs when she died.
Ebru Timtik claimed that her struggle was for rule of law and for fundamental freedoms, including every person’s right to a fair trial. Her death has now raised various questions on how the prisoners and people in hunger strikes are being responded by the states. Opposition parties have long questioned the impartiality and independence of the trial. Her hunger strike for a fair trial and its tragic outcome painfully illustrates the urgent need for the Turkish authorities to credibly address the human rights situation in the country and the serious shortcomings observed in the country’s judiciary.
Timtik’s death came months after two members of a left-wing popular folk group that is banned in Turkey also died of hunger strike. They had also been accused of links to the DHKP-C.
Such deaths and violations of human rights are concerns of human rights defenders and civil society. The social media users are criticizing the unaccountable performance of the government in Timtik’s death. The urgency discussed by the social media users are the assurance of effective measures and mechanisms for ensuring the minimum protection of people in any circumstances.
Source: International News Agencies