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The International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR) organises a protest and International Conference on the Unprecedented Threat to Human Rights in Turkey

  • IOHR held a protest of solidarity outside the UN headquarters on the 1st November to highlight the plight of press freedom in Turkey.
  • IOHR also held an international conference on the 2nd of November bringing together outspoken members of the British, Swiss, and Dutch parliaments who have been working on the Turkish crisis along with family member and first-hand sufferers to speak on the ongoing witch-hunt and unjustified jailing of Turkish citizens and the lack of due process and the travesty of justice those prisoners and their families face on a daily basis.
  • The conference was made up of 3 specific panels, with each panel focusing on a certain segment of Turkish society that has been affected by these grave violations
    • Silencing the press
    • Prosecuting the law
    • Eradicating civil society

[Geneva, Switzerland, 1st & 2nd November 2018] – The International Observatory of Human Rights responded to the unprecedented threat to human rights in Turkey by holding an advocacy mission in the heart of the UN in Geneva. The protest was stand of solidarity outside the UN headquarters on the 1st November and then an international conference on the 2nd November to coincide with the UNESCO International day to end impunity for crimes against journalists.

At the UN protest IOHR Director Valerie Peay condemned the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoogi and voiced support for calls to open a UN investigation for accountability. Peay said “It is encouraging that the Turkish leadership is giving his case so much attention right now. Perhaps there is hope that President Erdogan might respect the rights of those Turkish journalists unjustly jailed and guarantee adequate due process in accordance to the Constitution.”

The protest was to highlight the continuing crackdown on press freedom in Turkey and the incarceration of journalists, often with severe sentences and no recourse to appeal. The protest united exiled journalists, civil society practitioners and members of the European Parliament to campaign for press freedom in Turkey in one voice #FreeTurkeyMedia.