LONDON: Human Rights Watch (HRW) has demanded that Turkish authorities end a criminal investigation into rights activists after they were arrested at an International Women鈥檚 Day (IWD) rally in Istanbul for 鈥渋nsulting鈥� President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The offense is punishable with a prison sentence of between one and four years. HRW said the investigation is a violation of freedom of expression.
On March 10, police detained 13 activists, including a 17-year-old, after an operation ordered by the Istanbul prosecutor鈥檚 office.
The following day, a court imposed travel bans on 17 women and additional judicial control orders on five activists, including the child. The decision requires them to attend police stations on a regular basis until further notice.
鈥淥pening criminal investigations against women鈥檚 rights activists for non-violent slogans, and taking them from their homes in the middle of the night, demonstrates the Turkish authorities鈥� profound disdain for freedom of assembly and speech, and of course, women鈥檚 rights,鈥� said Hillary Margolis, senior women鈥檚 rights researcher at HRW.
鈥淚t speaks volumes that even on a day to celebrate women and promote equality, Turkish authorities would rather target them for peaceful demonstrations than protect their rights.鈥�
The arrests came just a week after Turkey revealed a new human rights plan to protect freedom of speech and end police detention 鈥渙ut of working hours.鈥�
But HRW said Turkish police identified the phrase 鈥淭ayyip, run, run, run, women are coming鈥� as criminally offensive.
Police also questioned the 鈥渞hythmic jumps鈥� of activists, and interrogated women on the circumstances of the demonstration.
Turkey鈥檚 government has promoted a hard-line model of gender roles, and has looked to undermine the work of women鈥檚 rights activists across the country.
Authorities heavily restricted access to the annual IWD assembly on March 8. Hundreds of police were deployed to oversee the event, while the area was placed under total lockdown.