Amnesty Highlights Human Rights Violations Following Coup Attempt

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The Amnesty has stated that human rights in Turkey are in peril following the coup attempt on Friday 15 July, which resulted in the deaths of at least 208 people and almost 8,000 arrests.

The statement expressing its concern that the capital punishment has been brought to agenda following the coup attempt, noted that this would come to mean the violation of international treaties of which Turkey is a party.

Right violations

It has been expressed that the Amnesty is monitoring the serious right violations the detainees face such as ill-treatment, blocking access to their lawyers.

“The sheer number of arrests and suspensions since Friday is alarming and we are monitoring the situation very closely. The coup attempt unleashed appalling violence and those responsible for unlawful killings and other human rights abuses must be brought to justice, but cracking down on dissent and threatening to bring back the death penalty are not justice,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Director for Europe and Central Asia.

“We urge the Turkish authorities to show restraint and respect for the rule of law as they carry out the necessary investigations, granting fair trials to all those in detention and releasing anyone for whom they do not have concrete evidence of participating in criminal acts. A backslide on human rights is the last thing Turkey needs.”

Lynch

Dalhuisen drew attention to right violations with the following remakrs.

“Those killed include 24 people described by authorities as ‘coup plotters’, some of whom were reportedly lynched while unarmed and trying to surrender.

“Civilians were also killed when they took to the streets following a call for protest from President Tayyip Erdogan, facing down tanks and helicopters”.

Crackdowns

“Mass arrests and suspensions are deeply worrying in a context of increasing intolerance of peaceful dissent on the part of the Turkish government, and there is a risk that this crackdown will be extended to journalists and civil society activists. 

In recent months political activists, journalists and others critical of public officials or government policy have been frequently targeted and media outlets seized”.

Respect to rule of law

“It is more important than ever for the Turkish government to respect human rights and the rule of law in ways the coup plotters did not”. (YY/TK)