"Westminster J&P joins delegation to observe mass trial in Turkey
By: Father Joe Ryan
Posted: Tuesday, January 4, 2011 2:11 pm
St John Vianney's, West Green
Father Joe Ryan, Parish Priest at St John Vianney's in West Green, north London, who chairs the Westminster Justice & Peace Commission, is joining an observer delegation at a mass trial of Kurdish politicians and human rights defenders, which resumes on 13 January 2011, in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Fr Joe writes:
While western politicians, including David Cameron, laud Turkey for its supposed democratic credentials, countless Kurds languish in Turkish prisons for non-violent political offences. In the last year and a half, between 840 and 1,700 Kurdish political activists have been thrown in jail on "terror" charges. Most of those targeted are from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), the leftist and pro-Kurdish political party that controls nearly 100 municipalities and has an influential group in parliament."
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