Despite its growing influence abroad, Turkey’s government has neglected human-rights reforms at home since 2005, according to Human Rights Watch. Freedom of expression and association have suffered as the country continues to prosecute and lock up journalists, writers and hundreds of Kurdish political activists. Progress on reforming the much criticized 1982 constitution has stalled. Meanwhile, a landmark peace agreement with Kurdish rebels collapsed last year. “The nonresolution of the Kurdish issue remains the single greatest obstacle to progress on human rights in Turkey,” the organization warns.
Human Rights Under Threat: Five Not-So-Usual Suspects
Human Rights Watch this week released its 2012 World Report. The 676-page write-up covers some of the biggest stories of the year, including China’s crackdown on dissent, ongoing attacks on civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the international community's ambivalent response to the Arab Spring. But it also spotlights some lesser-known stories from places that profess to protect human rights. Here are five important examples