September 15, 2025 / PUBLICATIONS.

BY EMAIL

Quick Response Desk

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

United Nations Office at Geneva

8–14 Avenue de la Paix

CH-1211 Geneva 10

Switzerland

urgent-action@ohchr.org

 

6 March 2026

 

FOR THE ATTENTION OF:

 

• Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers

• Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders

• Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism

• Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression

• Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association

• Special Rapporteur on minority issues

 

URGENT ACTION: Prosecution and conviction of lawyers and human rights defenders who are members of Özgürlükçü Hukukçular Derneği (ÖHD, Association of Lawyers for Freedom) and Tutuklu Aileleri ile Dayanışma Derneği (TUAD, the Prisoners’ Families Solidarity Association) on 28 January 2026 in Türkiye.

 

Dear Mandate Holders,

 

We write to express our deep and urgent concern regarding the prosecution, conviction and sentencing of lawyers and human rights defenders affiliated with Özgürlükçü Hukukçular Derneği (ÖHD, Association of Lawyers for Freedom) and Tutuklu Aileleri ile Dayanışma Derneği (TUAD, the Prisoners’ Families Solidarity Association) following a decade-long trial before the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court.

 

On 28 January 2026, in proceedings dating back to 2016, the trial court convicted 30 lawyers and human rights defenders, on terrorism-related and expression-based charges, imposing lengthy prison sentences. The prosecutions and resulting convictions appear to be based predominantly on lawyers’ lawful professional conduct — including prison visits, contact with clients, legal correspondence, court monitoring, and public engagement on human rights issues — rather than any credible evidence of criminal conduct. These mirror prior patterns of targeting lawyers for their professional activities.

 

TUAD activists were likewise targeted solely for their legitimate human rights work, including documenting prison conditions, publicly reporting on human rights violations, and advocating for the protection of prisoners’ health and dignity, activities that fall within the protected scope of human rights defence.

 

The convictions follow proceedings marked by serious due process concerns, including extensive reliance on surveillance evidence obtained through wiretapping and technical monitoring measures authorised by judges who were later dismissed or prosecuted in connection with alleged links to the Gülenist organisation, as well as the routine rejection of defence challenges without reasoned judicial assessment. These practices raise serious concerns regarding compliance with international standards protecting the professional independence of lawyers and the lawful activities of human rights defenders.

 

In light of the gravity of these concerns, we respectfully request your urgent intervention. We urge you to call on the Turkish authorities to quash the convictions and to terminate all criminal proceedings against the lawyers and human rights defenders concerned, in accordance with international human rights standards, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and relevant jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). We further invite you to urge the authorities to cease all forms of judicial harassment and undue interference with the legal profession and with human rights defence, and to ensure that lawyers and human rights defenders can carry out their lawful activities freely, independently, and without fear of reprisal.

 

BACKGROUND AND SYSTEMIC CONTEXT

 

Since the attempted coup of July 2016, Türkiye has experienced a sustained deterioration of the rule of law and judicial independence, accompanied by widespread persecution of lawyers, human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society actors. Under the pretext of counterterrorism, the authorities have systematically targeted members of the legal profession and civil society through arbitrary arrests, prolonged pre-trial detention, and criminal prosecutions based on vague and overly broad terrorism provisions, particularly Articles 314 and 220 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) and Article 7(2) of the Law on Anti-Terrorism. These measures have been repeatedly criticised by international bodies for their lack of foreseeability, their misuse against lawful expression and association, and their chilling effect on the exercise of fundamental rights.

 

This pattern has been facilitated by profound structural damage to judicial independence, including the mass dismissal and replacement of judges and prosecutors, expanded executive control over judicial appointments, and the routine disregard by domestic courts of binding judgments of the ECtHR. As documented by UN mechanisms and regional bodies, these developments have enabled the instrumentalization of criminal law against lawyers and human rights defenders perceived as critical of state policies, particularly in cases relating to Kurdish issue, political opposition, prison conditions, and allegations of torture and ill-treatment.

 

For instance, in March 2019 the Istanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court sentenced 18 lawyers to a combined total of 159 years, 1 month, and 30 days in prison on terrorism-related charges linked to the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party–Front (DHKP-C). The defendants included lawyers from the People’s Law Office (HHB) and the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), many of whom had been providing legal representation in politically sensitive cases. Human rights organisations and bar associations condemned the verdicts as unjust and politically motivated, stressing that the convictions were based on lawyers’ professional activities rather than any demonstrable criminal conduct. They further warned that the proceedings reflected serious due process violations, political interference in the judiciary, and the systematic criminalisation of legal defence work, undermining the independence of the legal profession in Türkiye.

 

Another illustrative example of the criminalisation of legal defence work took place in Ankara in 2017. In June of that year, 52 lawyers were charged with “membership of a terrorist organization” under Article 314 of the TPC. The prosecution alleged that their professional association, the Law and Life Association, formed part of the Gülen organisation, despite a police report finding no evidence of criminal activity. The indictment relied on routine legal activities such as assigning cases, representing clients linked to the Gülenist organisation, and making public statements on due process as purported proof of “aiding terrorism”. Human Rights Watch condemned the proceedings, warning that treating legal representation as evidence of criminality “threatens the very core of fair trial rights” and undermines the independence of the legal profession.

 

According to reports, more than 1,500 lawyers have been prosecuted in Türkiye since 2016, hundreds have been detained, and many have received lengthy prison sentences. These prosecutions frequently rely on evidence obtained from lawyers’ professional activities, including prison visits, client communications, participation in hearings, and public advocacy on human rights and rule of law.

 

These concerns are reflected in reporting by international media and civil society organisations concerning large-scale police operations carried out in April 2023 in Diyarbakır and other predominantly Kurdish southeastern provinces. According to media reports, Turkish police detained more than 100 individuals — including lawyers, journalists, political actors and civil society representatives — in coordinated raids targeting organisations allegedly linked to the PKK.

 

A series of other ongoing cases further illustrates the entrenched and continuing nature of these practices. In the context of the Gezi Park proceedings, domestic courts have repeatedly refused to give effect to binding ECtHR judgments requesting the release of human rights defender Osman Kavala. Trial courts and the Court of Cassation repeatedly failed to give effect to multiple rulings of the Constitutional Court ordering the release of opposition MP Can Atalay on the basis of his parliamentary immunity and have continued to detain Gezi Park co-defendant Tayfun Kahraman despite a Constitutional Court judgment finding violations of his rights.

 

Parallel concerns arise in relation to the continued imprisonment of human rights lawyer Selçuk Kozağaçlı, following the arbitrary and punitive refusal of his conditional release. In late 2024, the authorities also initiated criminal and civil proceedings against the leadership of the Istanbul Bar Association in response to a public statement addressing alleged human rights violations in Syria attributed to Turkish security forces. Earlier, in October 2022, prominent forensic expert and human rights defender Şebnem Korur Fincancı was detained and prosecuted for her professional assessment on the allegations concerning the use of chemical weapons in Iraqi Kurdistan by Turkish military forces.

 

International human rights monitoring mechanisms has further highlighted the systemic nature of these practices. In its concluding observations adopted in November 2024, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed serious concern about persecution, harassment, intimidation, and reprisals against human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, Kurdish activists, environmental defenders, opposition politicians, academics, and civil society members perceived as critical of the government.

 

CONVICTION OF ÖHD LAWYERS AND MEMBERS AND ACTIVISTS FROM TUAD

 

On 28 January 2026, the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court delivered its judgment in a criminal case initiated in 2016 against lawyers affiliated with the ÖHD, members and staff of the TUAD. At the conclusion of nearly ten years of proceedings, the court convicted 30 lawyers and human rights defenders on terrorism-related and expression-based charges and imposed custodial sentences ranging from several months to multiple years of imprisonment.

 

Among the convicted lawyers were Adem Çalışçı, Ayşe Acinikli, Ayşe Gösterişlioğlu, Hüseyin Boğatekin, Ramazan Demir, Raziye Öztürk, Ruhşen Mahmutoğlu, Sinan Zincir, Şefik Çelik, and Tamer Doğan.

 

The conduct relied upon by the prosecution and the trial court as evidence of criminal liability consisted of lawful professional and human rights activities.

 

According to reports, the prosecution was built almost exclusively on unlawfully obtained surveillance material, including wiretapping and technical monitoring measures extended over prolonged periods in breach of procedural safeguards.

 

Throughout the trial, defence lawyers raised serious and persistent concerns regarding violations of fair trial guarantees.

 

The convictions of TUAD members and affiliates further raise grave concerns regarding the criminalisation of human rights defenders’ work.

 

Taken together these violations take place within a broader context of weakened judicial safeguards and increasing executive influence over the courts.

 

TURKEY’S OBLIGATION UNDER DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

​

A. Rights of Lawyers and Rule of Law

 

Under international and regional human rights law, the rights of lawyers — including their rights to liberty and security, freedom of expression and association, and the independent exercise of their profession — are protected by a coherent body of standards.

 

The Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers affirm that lawyers are entitled to enjoy the rights and freedoms guaranteed under international human rights law insofar as they relate to their professional functions.

 

These guarantees are reinforced and developed at the regional level by the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer.

 

The prosecution and conviction of ÖHD lawyers for routine professional activities constitute a direct violation of these standards.

 

B. Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Legitimate Civil Society Activity

 

TUAD members and activists fall within the definition of human rights defenders.

 

Article 9 of the Declaration affirms the right of everyone to offer and provide professionally qualified legal assistance in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.

 

The prosecution and conviction of TUAD members for activities such as documenting prison conditions and supporting prisoners’ families therefore constitute a clear violation of Türkiye’s obligations under international law.

 

Taken together, the prosecution and convictions reflect the misuse of counter-terrorism legislation to suppress lawful professional and human rights activities.

 

ACTIONS REQUESTED

 

In light of the above, we respectfully request that the Special Rapporteurs take the following urgent actions:

 

(a) Call on the Turkish authorities to quash the convictions and sentences imposed on ÖHD lawyers and TUAD members and to ensure their immediate acquittal.

 

(b) Seek detailed information from the Government of Türkiye regarding the use of surveillance and intelligence evidence authorised by judicial officials who were later dismissed or convicted.

 

(c) Urge the authorities to end all forms of harassment against the individuals concerned and against lawyers and human rights defenders more broadly.

 

(d) Raise concerns regarding the criminalisation of legal defence work and prisoners’ rights advocacy.

 

(e) Call on the authorities to immediately cease the misuse of counter-terrorism legislation against lawyers and human rights defenders.

 

(f) Urge Türkiye to take concrete measures to safeguard judicial independence.

 

(g) Remind the Government of Türkiye of its binding international obligations under international human rights law.

 

Ayşe Bingöl Demir

Turkey Litigation Support Project

     

Saniye Karakaş

London Legal Group

 

(and on behalf of the following organisations)

 

Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (Conseil des Barreaux Européens, CCBE) European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) Human Rights Association (İnsan Hakları Derneği, IHD)

Human Rights Fundation of Turkey (Türkiye İnsan Hakları Vakfı, TİHV)

International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

International Observatory of Lawyers at Risk (OIAD)

Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC)

Rights Initiative Association (Hak İnsiyatifi Derneği) 

Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Association (SPoD)

The Law Society of England and Wales (LSEW)

Truth Justice Memory Center (Hakikat Adalet Hafıza Merkezi)

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders