The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein urged Turkey to lift the state of emergency immediately to be able to ensure credible elections to be held on June 24.
‘‘It is hard to imagine that ‘credible elections’ can be effectively held in an environment where the dissent opinion and protests are harshly penalized by the ruling political party’’, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said in the Canton of Geneva in Switzerland on Wednesday.
Indicating the journalists in Turkish prisons and detentions during the May 1 demonstrations, al-Hussein noted that ‘‘the space for dissent people in Turkey has shrunk considerably over the past two years’’.
A report issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in late March had also urged Turkish government to end the state of emergency, stating that the state of emergency declared after the June 15 coup attempt in 2016 has led to gross human rights violations in Turkey.
The report had also argued that ‘‘collective punishment’’ is unlawfully imposed after the failed coup, accusing the Turkish government of human rights violations and arbitrary dismissals on the pretexts of ‘terror charges’ on dissents.
