This report is based on the findings of monitoring activities carried out by 17 May Association, Truth Justice Memory Center, Human Rights Association (IHD) Istanbul Branch, Kaos GL Association, Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (SPoD), Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), and Amnesty International Türkiye regarding the 11th Trans Pride March (22 June, Kadıköy) and the 23rd Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride March (29 June, Beşiktaş) organized as part of the 2025 Istanbul Pride Month.
Monitoring and documentation activities were carried out in accordance with international standards such as the OSCE’s Guidelines on Monitoring Peaceful Assemblies and the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
The monitoring organizations documented that both marches were obstructed by discriminatory and unlawful bans, as well as by human rights violations that could amount to torture and other forms of ill-treatment committed by law enforcement officials. The monitoring and documentation activities establish the violations of prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and non-discrimination protected under Articles 3, 10, 11, and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and Articles 7, 19, 21, and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The 24-hour blanket bans issued by the governorates and district governorates are neither based on a clear security threat nor meet the principle of proportionality. On the day of the marches, Istanbul’s central districts such as Kadıköy, Şişli, Beyoğlu, and Beşiktaş were placed under heavy police blockade, and public services such as mass transportation were disrupted. Many people -at least 95 in total, as documented by the monitoring organizations- were detained solely for being present in public spaces or for clothing, symbols, and slogans associated with LGBTI+s.
Findings based on direct assembly observations and lawyer interviews reveal that many of those detained were subjected to practices that may amount to torture and other forms of ill- treatment, including prolonged reverse handcuffing, unlawful physical violence and verbal harassment, and deprivation of access to basic needs. Furthermore, the findings indicate that some individuals were subjected to strip searches which amounts to sexual violence. Access to legal assistance was obstructed from the moment of apprehension until questioning began at the security directorate; three lawyers were violently detained, and some were arbitrarily denied entry to the security directorate despite having provided their IDs issued by the bar association.
Since 2015, Pride Marches have been unlawfully and systematically hindered by the authorities. However, for the first time, three individuals detained after the Pride Marches were placed in pre-trial detention. The monitoring organizations examined the indictments and interrogation records prepared and submitted to courts in July as part of the investigations launched against both marches. The reference to LGBTI+ identities and peaceful slogans as evidence of crime in these documents constitutes a violation of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
The conduct of the law enforcement officials documented in the report reveal that, in violation of international human rights law and standards, LGBTI+s were subjected to discrimination, in some cases to torture and other forms of ill-treatment, as well as to administrative and judicial harassment during Pride Weeks.
Methodology
Article 6(c) of the “UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms”[1] guarantees that human rights defenders and organizations have the right “to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters.” This provision ensures their ability to work on human rights violations and to share these efforts with the public in order to raise awareness about such violations.
As per this right, guaranteed in the above-mentioned article [2] , the monitoring organizations observed the 11th Trans Pride March on 22 June 2025 in Kadıköy, Istanbul with six observers, and the 23rd Istanbul Pride March on 29 June 2025 in Beşiktaş, Istanbul with nine observers. The monitoring organizations based their monitoring activities on the methods outlined in the OSCE’s “Guidelines on Monitoring Freedom of Peaceful Assembly”. [3]
Between 14 June and 4 July, the monitoring organizations supported their monitoring and documentation activities with various methods as indicated in the guidelines[4] to identify and document human rights violations resulting from interventions into the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly, and to carry out advocacy activities to prevent such violations. In this context, monitoring of social and mainstream media was carried out, and documents such as decisions and announcements by administrative authorities, as well as correspondence and reports by law enforcement officials, were examined. Interviews conducted by lawyers with individuals who had been subjected to human rights violations during questioning were also considered, as were statement records.
This report records the observation conditions and human rights violations identified by the organizations on the streets, in hospitals, and at security directorates. The report only covers cases to which the observers had access and violations that could be documented.
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[1] UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N99/770/89/PDF/N9977089.pdf?OpenElement
[2] This right is also provided for in international conventions to which Turkey is a party. For example, Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights reads as follows: “Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.” Also see, European Convention on Human Rights, Article 10(1): “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.”
[3] OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Handbook on Monitoring Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, https:// osce.org/files/f/documents/d/1/473439_0.pdf.
[4] Ibid. p. 14