Hugh Williamson

The Turkish government has come under fire from Human Rights Watch (HRW) for aggressively repressing dissent and political opponents, imposing censorship and imprisoning people in the runup to the presidential elections.

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.

Supporter of Selahattin Demirtas holding a picture of of Demirtas at an election campaign office in Istanbul, June 17 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

The European rights court said his detention for more than four years has sent a "dangerous message" to Turkish people and was "merely a cover for an ulterior political purpose".

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released on Jan. 12 a report claiming that the Turkish government used last year's foiled military coup to launch an "expansive crackdown that swept up peaceful critics and undermined democracy." 

A new report prepared by Human Rights Watch calls on the Turkish authorities to "reinstate safeguards" that have been discarded by the state of emergency decree laws, thus paving the way for torture and maltreatment of detainees in Turkish jails.