The report, published by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) and Human Rights Association (İHD), sheds light on the crackdown against human rights defenders, civil society actors, and independent voices in Turkey. It demonstrates that State bodies use administrative proceedings and sanctions to silence and stigmatise human rights defenders and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Turkey in retaliation for their human rights work.
The report argues that administrative harassment deserves attention due to its impact both on affected NGOs and human rights defenders, and on the wider civil society through a chilling effect. It is based on a wide range of information and data gathered by the Observatory (FIDH & OMCT) and IHD, and direct testimonies from civil society actors and other stakeholders in Turkey who have first-hand experience of administrative harassment’s repercussions for the work of NGOs and human rights defenders. The report focuses on the period following the enactment of Law No. 7262 on the Prevention of Financing of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in December 2020, which introduced several problematic amendments to civil society-related legislation.
Read the report in English and Turkish here.