Police brutality

It was as if there was an undeclared curfew. Early in the morning [May 31], Istanbul police closed down all major roads leading to Gezi Park, the sparking point of the 2013 nationwide anti-government protests. Why? The obsessive majoritarian government of the elected neo-sultan did not want people gather and remember the nine young sons of this country who fell victim to brutal governance.

Chilean police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse stone-throwing students protesting May 28 against what they call inadequate education reforms and heavy-handed crackdowns on recent demonstrations.

A white Cleveland police officer who climbed onto the hood of a car and fired dozens of rounds at an unarmed black couple in 2012 was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter May 23.

Weeks before the general elections, Turkey?s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has changed its much-criticized digital strategy, replacing its infamous ?trolls? with a ?regular army? - at least on paper.

Police fired stun grenades to disperse a rally by Ethiopian Israelis demonstrating in central Tel Aviv on May 3 against alleged police brutality and widespread discrimination.

Police in the US state of South Carolina charged an officer April 7 with murder after video showed him apparently gunning down a fleeing black man, a rare arrest in a string of shootings of unarmed black men that have raised allegations of police racism.
      

A Turkish lawyer has defended her clients, six policemen accused of beating a Gezi Park protester, by arguing that a police baton is a ?service tool, not a weapon.?

Members and supporters of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) continually repeat the claim that there is what they call a ?perception operation? against President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and the government of Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu.

Security footage has emerged appearing to show two police officers firing tear gas canisters from close range at a crowd during the summer 2013 Gezi Park protests, which hit research assistant Burak Ünveren and left him blind in his left eye.

The latest report published by international campaign group Amnesty International on Wednesday said attacks on the gay community were handled inappropriately by justice systems throughout the Balkans and Roma continue to face discrimination.

The latest State of the World's Human Rights report profiled the state of human rights in 160 countries and territories in 2014.