Rights organizations condemned legal proceedings against the Istanbul Bar Association’s (ISBA) executive board on Monday, warning that they are incompatible with Türkiye’s international human rights obligations and constitute a direct assault on the independence of the legal profession.

The legal proceedings were brought after the Istanbul Bar Association issued a statement in response to the killing of two Kurdish journalists, Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, from a drone strike in northern Syria, allegedly carried out by Türkiye. The board condemned the targeting of journalists in conflict zones and called the action a violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions. However, authorities found the statement to be contrary to Article 77/5 of Türkiye’s Attorneyship Law and ultimately removed the association’s president, İbrahim Kaboğlu, and 10 executive board members.

Organizations called the charges vague, legally baseless, and reliant on overly broad anti-terrorism and “disinformation” laws that fail to meet international standards of legality, necessity, and proportionality. They also alleged that the independence of the legal profession is considered a central guarantee of an effective right to a fair trial in Türkiye’s legal system as per Attorneyship Law No. 1136. Ayşe Bingöl Demir, Director of the Türkiye Human Rights Litigation Support Project, highlighted the gravity of the situation, saying:

The criminal and civil proceedings against the Istanbul Bar Association’s executive board amount to retaliation for engaging in lawful, rights-based advocacy. They are part of a broader effort to intimidate the legal profession and silence institutions that challenge state power.

Groups that submitted the joint amicus curiae brief include Amnesty International, Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project, Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, German Federal Bar, Human Rights Watch, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, International Commission of Jurists, International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger, Law Society of England and Wales, Lawyers for Lawyers, and PEN Norway.

UN experts expressed concern in January over the continued misuse of Türkiye’s counter-terrorism law to detain nine prominent human rights defenders and lawyers. Human Rights Watch has also urged Türkiye to stop abuse of terrorism charges following the end of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party insurgency in March.