İstanbul Bar documents violations during İmamoğlu protests

The İstanbul Bar Association has released reports documenting human rights violations during protests that erupted last month following the detention of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

The reports cover incidents that occurred in İstanbul between Mar 19 and 29 and are based on field observations, complaints, legal documentation, and direct investigations.

Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu outlined the scope of the findings today at a press conference held at the association’s headquarters in the Beyoğlu district. “What we are seeing is not isolated but part of a systematic and multi-layered chain of rights violations,” he said.

Kaboğlu emphasized that the reports focused on rights guaranteed by the Constitution, including those considered inviolable even under wartime conditions. He also commented on the frequent use of the terms "enemy law" and "partisan justice" in critiques of Turkey’s legal system. “What we have seen recently isn’t even war law, it’s a state of lawlessness shaped by arbitrary practices,” he said.

The reports highlight concerns spanning from police custody to court proceedings and prison conditions:

• Thousands of detainees, including students and political figures, were held without meeting minimum detention conditions.

• Even lawyers were denied timely access to information about their clients.

• Suspects were brought before judges only at the last minute, limiting their ability to provide sound testimony.

• The use of pretrial detention often violated the principles of proportionality and the prohibition of harm to personal integrity.

• Legal objections to politically motivated detentions were largely dismissed.

Mustafa Rüzgar, head of the bar association’s Lawyers’ Rights Center, said the report revealed that legal professionals themselves faced significant safety risks while performing their duties during the protests.

Kardelen Ateşci, who leads the Children's Rights Center, said their findings aimed to bring visibility to rights violations affecting minors and to hold those responsible accountable.

Violations against women

Women’s Rights Center head Özlem Özkan stated that their report was prepared from a feminist perspective and focused on gender-based violence, including physical and psychological abuse of women during detentions.

The reports include interviews with 47 women who described abuse during and after their detention. Many said they were handcuffed from behind, dragged by their hair, and subjected to violence inside police vehicles. Several stated that doctors failed to document the abuse, leaving them without official medical reports.

One of the most serious claims involves allegations of sexual harassment, strip searches, and sexual violence. Women reported being forced to undergo strip searches in public settings and said those who tried to speak up were silenced through threats and pressure.

Psychological abuse, including sexist insults and threats, was reported as "routine." Detainees said such verbal abuse came not only from male officers but also female ones, and continued throughout their detention.

The report also documented neglect of women’s health and hygiene needs. Many women reported being denied access to sanitary products, undergarments, soap, and toilets, even during menstruation. One woman, who was at risk of pregnancy, was returned to custody before her hospital tests were completed.

During the protests that erupted following Mayor İmamoğlu's Mar 19 arreest, over 1,800 people were taken into custody during protests across the country, according to the Interior Ministry. (AB/EMK/VK)