HRW.org
Attempt to Close Lambda Istanbul Endangers Basic Freedoms
(New York) – A legal challenge by the governor of Istanbul seeking to close down Lambda Istanbul, a gay rights organization, threatens basic freedoms of association and expression, Human Rights Watch said today.
Shutting down groups because you don’t like the people they represent is an attack on freedom itself,” said Juliana Cano Nieto, researcher in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, who will attend an October 18, 2007 court hearing in Istanbul on the organization’s fate. “If organizations that defend human rights cannot function, Turkey’s status as a real democracy is in danger.”