A/HRC/39/41 27. Turkey 111. Information was received that on 20 August 2017, the web pages adminis trat ed b y the Housing and Land Rights Network of Habitat International Coalition (HIC-HLRN), suffered a series of alleged cyber-attacks over two weeks, which were repeated on 25 September 2017 for two days and on 16 April 2018. The attacks disabled its websites www.hic-mena.org and www.hlrn.org for two weeks, and obliged the organization to deploy exceptional human and financial resources for two months in o rd er t o en sure t h e web pages’ security and data protection. The Network believe that the cyber-attacks were a reprisal following the publicity of their report at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), which took place in Quito, Ecuador, October 2016. 112. In October 2016, when HIC-HLRN presented a report “Turkey: Forced Eviction and Urban Transformation as a Tool of War” at Habitat III, it is alleged that the Turkish delegation scolded HIC-HLRN officers. The report was also distributed to numerous United Nations special procedures and to OHCHR. 113. The origins of the attacks are unknown. The first attack to the HIC-HLRN web pag e was reportedly perpetrated by a hacking group self-identified as Yarma Security Team an d the second attack to their Middle East/North Africa website was perpetrated by an u nknown hacker. The second cyber-attack displayed a political message in the hacked fro n tal p age reading “Hayali Kürdistan Olanın Mekanı Kabristan Olur” (The Imaginary Place Kurdistan becomes a Cemetery). HIC-HLRN had been monitoring the expropriations, evictio ns an d demolitions taking place in Diyarbakır, in the Kurdish region of southeast Turkey. 114. Mr. Kursat Çevik, a Turkish police superintendent, was the sub ject o f an o p inio n adopted on 16 June 2017 by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentio n. M r. Çev ik was arrested, together with 15 of his colleagues, on 21 July 2016. He is allegedly su spected o f being a member of a terrorist organization (the Gülen movement) and of treason, and is classified as an opponent to the Justice and Development Party . Ho weve r, M r. Çev ik is being held in secret, without a confirmed charge, and his lawyer does not have access to his file. The Working Group noted in its opinion that it considered his detention to be arbitrary as it had not received convincing information that Mr. Çevik was informed of th e ch arg es against him after his arrest, nor was he informed promptly after the judicial order that justified his detention, was issued (see A/HRC/WGAD/2017/38, para. 73-76). 115. Following the issuance of the opinion, Turkish pro-Government med ia circu lat ed information distorting the opinion of the Working Group containing vario us accusatio ns against Mr. Çevik. On 4 August 2017, the Turkish pro-government media accused Mr. Çevik of having acted as an intelligence officer for the French governmen t, an d accused “the United Nations” of requesting his release “because he had been set to leave Turkey for holidays” on 16 July 2016. The Working Group opinion also triggered reprisals at Mr. Çevik’s place of detention, where his cell was reportedly moved to separate h im fro m h is friends and colleagues, and he was denied food and purchases from the prison mess (A/HRC/39/45). 116. On 31 July 2018 the Government responded to the allegations. With reg ard t o t h e reported hacking of the websites of the Housing and Land Rights Network - Habitat International Coalition, the Government noted that the “perpetrators and/or sponsors of t h e attacks in question could be any source, based anywhere in the wo rld ” an d t hat Tu rkis h authorities are not in the possession of any previous record or information about the “Yarma Security Team.” The Government further noted that it has committed to international efforts to identify cyber threats and build a more secure network, and will continue to work with United Nations agencies to this effect. 117. Pertaining to the case of Mr. Kursat Çevik, the Government affirmed it had submitted to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention information on the procedures an d remedies available, and that it rejected the conclusion that his detention was arb it rary . It further noted that Mr. Çevik was moved from Mardin Penitentiary to Sanhurfa Penitentiary on 17 July 2016, before the release of the report on 16 June 2017, and t h at s ubsequent ly “his cell was changed three times, in accordance with administrative needs.” The Government stated he was not subject to solitary confinement, separated from other 40 GE.18-13325