Amnesty International on March 24 called for an end [5] to unlawful violence against protesters and detention of activists and journalists by police in Türkiye. The country has seen mass protests in the wake of the arrest of opposition presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu. Authorities have confirmed the arrest of 1,133 protesters, and at least eight journalists, since the beginning of the protests last week. Upon review of available video footage, Amnesty secretary general Agnès Callamard noted police interactions with peaceful demonstrators involving use of batons, pepper-spray, tear-gas, water-cannon and plastic bullets, as well as the kicking of people on the ground. Callamard stated that such use of force has resulted in numerous injuries and hospitalizations, and called for a prompt investigation of the violence.
In addition to physical attacks and unlawful detentions, Callamard accused Turkish authorities of blatantly violating the right to freedom of expression by restricting access to information. Amnesty noted that internet users experienced restricted access to social media and news sites, and that "more than 700 accounts of journalists, activists, and opposition figures on Twitter/X have been blocked." Additionally, three cities have instituted a blanket protest ban.
Callamard urged authorities "respect and protect the right to peaceful assembly, immediately lift the blanket protest bans and release all those unjustifiably and arbitrarily detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful protest."
The protests erupted as a result of İmamoğlu's arrest on alleged corruption charges. İmamoğlu is also the mayor of the city of Istanbul and a leading member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). In addition to İmamoğlu, more than 100 politicians, journalists and business figures were taken into custody.
From JURIST [8], March 25. Used with permission.
See our last report on the crackdown on political opposition [9] in Türkiye.
