Human Rights Watch

EU member states, including Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Poland and Spain, have continued to engage in illegally turning back migrants and perpetrating violence at their borders, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report on the state of human rights around the world.

President Tayyip Erdogan's government has cracked down more aggressively on dissent and political opponents ahead of Turkish elections with censorship and prison sentences, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

Human Rights Watch has again drawn attention to the problem of air pollution in Bosnian cities. "Nine per cent of the country's deaths are due to air pollution and an estimated 3,300 people die prematurely every year as a result of exposure to ambient PM2.5 air pollution," an HRW report published on Monday says. 

Human Rights Watch accused authorities in Greece of allegedly using migrants to help carry out summary, illegal deportations of asylum seekers at the country's border before they are able to register their claims.

People hold pictures of Jamal Khashoggi at an event marking the second anniversary of his murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, on 2 October 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA BOZOGLU.

The decision shocked human rights defenders who said this would end all hope of justice in the case.

A Turkish court ruled on April 7 to suspend the trial in absentia of 26 Saudis accused in the gruesome killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and for the case to be transferred to Saudi Arabia.

The United States on Dec. 4 led a group of Western nations and allies in condemnation of the Taliban over the "summary killings" of former members of the Afghan security forces reported by rights groups, demanding quick investigations.

Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu. Photo: Gergerlioglu's personal archieve

"We are right, we are strong and we will win. We have won with resistance." Gergerlioglu said defiantly at a press conference held at the HDP headquarters in Ankara on Tuesday night.

Tens of thousands of Turkish women rallied across the country on Thursday evening to protest the government's decision to pull out of the so-called Istanbul Convention on domestic violence and women's rights.

Turkish riot police use plastic bullets securing an area during a protest against President Erdogan's appointed rector at Bogazici University in Istanbul, 2 February 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA BOZOGLU