Statement from the Istanbul Bar Association for December 10 Human Rights Day

Istanbul Bar Association President Filiz Saraç, along with representatives from the Istanbul Bar Association's Human Rights Center, Women's Rights Center, and Children's Rights Center, held a press conference at the bar association for "December 10 Human Rights Day."

The statement read by Saraç is as follows:

“We are in the 75th year since the adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, which aims to protect human rights at the international level. 

This declaration was adopted following the painful consequences of the Second World War to protect the value of the human being as a human and to ensure that human rights and freedoms have an effective system of protection. 

Unfortunately, both at the national and international levels, the current state of human rights shows that lessons have still not been learned from the painful experiences of the past. 

Recently, in Gaza, before the eyes of the world, densely populated residential areas and hospitals are being targeted, and people are being removed from their residences or forced to leave. Basic humanitarian needs continue to go unmet due to embargoes and blockades. 

And before the eyes of the whole world, civilians, the vast majority of whom are children and women, are being killed. 

However, in accordance with the “Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War,” one of the 1949 Geneva Conventions; not only is the necessity of protecting children from all kinds of attacks and the obligation of parties to the conflict to provide the necessary assistance and care to children in need being violated, but the targeting of health, water, hygiene, and infrastructure systems is causing the devastating impact of the war on children to reach irreparable dimensions. All these actions by Israel, which violate humanitarian law and international human rights law, constitute the crime of “genocide.” The fact that Israel has not yet been held accountable for its international obligations also shows that international law is not being enforced.

At the point reached since October 7, 2023, we condemn in the strongest terms the attacks that ignore the calls for peace and solutions from the international community, which declare unarmed and defenseless children as parties to the war, instead of protecting them from the dangers of war.   

As the Istanbul Bar Association, we dedicate December 10 Human Rights Day to the children who have died in the armed conflicts that began in Gaza. 

In accordance with the principles of international humanitarian law, international institutions and organizations must fulfill their obligations and fight to pave the way for the immediate implementation of special protection provisions without exception, showing the sensitivity required by the process and taking steps for peace. 

Indeed, due to the human rights violations in Gaza, our Bar Association has expressed its reaction from the very first day and has called on legal institutions and Bar Associations all over the world to stand against these violations. We reiterate this call on Human Rights Day. 

Reiterating the words of our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, “Peace at home, peace in the world,” we call on all national and international institutions and organizations to take the necessary steps for peace to prevail throughout the world on December 10 Human Rights Day.”