Tahir Elçi , President of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, was a fearless human rights defender and consistently principled advocate for minorities across Turkey. A victim of torture himself, Mr Elçi was instrumental in bringing cases of torture, detention and disappearances against Turkey before the domestic courts as well as the European Court of Human Rights. On 28 November 2015, Tahir Elçi was shot dead following a press conference in Diyarbakir in which he was calling for an end to violence between the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and the authorities. As freedom of speech comes under increasing attack in Turkey, this seminar will discuss what can be done to improve human rights in the country.

BHRC organised a powerful event on Wednesday 10 February in partnership with Doughty Street Chambers, when it hosted a talk by Nadia Murad, a courageous Yazidi woman and survivor of ISIS. Nadia Murad Basee Taha was visiting the UK to share her personal story and raise awareness of the plight of the Yazidi people. Bravely campaigning on behalf of the 3,500...

BHRC Event: A conversation with Nadia Murad – Yazidi ISIS survivor

Nadia Murad Basee Taha is a courageous Yazidi woman and survivor of ISIS. She is visiting the UK to share her personal story and raise awareness of the plight of the Yazidi people. She is campaigning on behalf of the 3,500 Yazidi  women and girls who are still prisoners of ISIS and has been nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for...