Full PDF joint letter to UN Special Rapporteurs
In a joint letter dated 6 March 2026 addressed to six UN Special Rapporteurs, several organisations, including Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada raised concerns over the prosecution and conviction 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) on 28 January 2026 in Türkiye.
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.
Among the urgent actions requested of the UN Special Rapporteurs is that they on the Turkish authorities
“to quash the convictions and sentences imposed on ÖHD lawyers and TUAD members and to ensure their immediate acquittal, including in respect of the lawyers Adem Çalışçı, Ayşe Acinikli, Ayşe Gösterişlioğlu, Hüseyin Boğatekin, Ramazan Demir, Raziye Öztürk, Ruhşen Mahmutoğlu, Sinan Zincir, Şefik Çelik, and Tamer Doğan.” See the full joint letter.
Signatories:
Turkey Litigation Support Project
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
