[Statement]
Civil Society Demands Attention to Human Rights and Climate Justice Ahead of COP31
We, the undersigned civil society organizations, movements, groups, and individuals, demand urgent attention to serious human rights violations in Türkiye. In advance of this year’s United Nations Climate Conference (COP31), taking place in Antalya from 9-20 November 2026, it is imperative that the international community address these concerns and that Türkiye take concrete steps to resolve them.
Türkiye’s government has a longstanding, well-documented pattern of repressing independent civil society, thwarting political opponents, and silencing critical voices. This raises grave concerns about the ability of civil society—including environmental activists, academics, human rights defenders, and journalists—to engage freely and safely in COP31. The host country of any such multilateral conference must be able to ensure the genuine participation of all stakeholders upon whose contributions its success depends. This is key to putting human rights front and center of all climate action and related decision making.
The international spotlight on Türkiye as it prepares to host COP31 presents a critical opportunity to mark concerns and hold the country accountable to its human rights obligations.
The Turkish government’s systematic efforts to restrict civil society and freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly came into dramatic view in mid-September 2026, when authorities began a sweeping campaign targeting LGBTQI+ people, human rights defenders, civil society organizations, and HIV service providers. More than 110 people have been arrested or detained on spurious charges under the guise of protecting children, traditional family structures, and public order, and hundreds of social media accounts have been blocked or restricted. Those held in pre-trial detention have reported alarming prison conditions, including lacking access to clean water, hygienic products, and medications.
The government’s use of detention as a tool of repression has gone unchecked as judicial independence eroded, contributing to an exploding prison population. Human rights groups estimate that Turkish authorities have jailed tens of thousands of people on politically motivated charges. Many have faced years-long pretrial detentions and other due-process violations, and courts routinely hand down excessive prison sentences.
In one high-profile case, the democratically elected mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, was arrested on March 19, 2025, alongside approximately 106 other municipal officials and politicians. The move sought to suppress and deter lawful political activities, coming just days before İmamoğlu was to be nominated the main opposition party’s presidential candidate. The same day, the Istanbul governor’s office issued a five-day ban on public assemblies and demonstrations and restricted access to social media, online news sites, and internet bandwidth. After nearly one year in pretrial detention, İmamoğlu went to trial facing as many as 142 charges and a prison sentence of more than 2,300 years.
Some remain behind bars despite rulings from the European Court of Human Rights that their detentions are arbitrary and unlawful. This is the case for prominent human rights activist Osman Kavala, who has been in imprisoned since November 2017. He was sentenced in April 2022 to “aggravated life imprisonment” without possibility of release for “attempting to overthrow the government” in the context of the mass Gezi Park protests of 2013. In December 2019, the European Court of Human Rights found authorities had violated Kavala’s right to liberty and convicted him in order to silence him, and should therefore immediately release him. When they failed to do so, it launched infringement proceedings and ruled in July 2022 that Türkiye violated its obligation to implementation. On 25 August 2026, the Court again ruled that Turkish authorities had violated Kavala’s rights to fair trial, freedom of expression and association, and freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment; had sought to punish and silence him; and should immediately release him and quash his conviction. Allowing Türkiye to continue ignoring its legal obligations with impunity will undermine national and international rule of law and deny justice to Kavala and thousands of human rights defenders.
The Turkish state also undermines press freedom. According to the Journalists’ Union of Türkiye, there are at least 17 journalists and other media workers in prison as of October 2026. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports that 90 percent of national media outlets are under government control, driving the public to alternative media outlets for information. However, these independent journalists regularly face threats from government officials and their allies, and can face lawsuits for “insult” if they question religious, judicial, or government figures. In October 2026, police raided the widely watched independent news channel Halk TV and announced its takeover by a government-appointed administrator who promptly ordered it to end its live broadcast.
The government also misuses anti-extremism laws, often filing terrorism-related charges against those who report on sensitive topics in order to intimidate and deter critics. Overly broad and vague laws with little guidance for their correct application—such as the so-called “disinformation law” (Article 217/A of the penal code)—can easily be instrumentalized to persecute journalists, and thus have a chilling effect on reporting. Such misuse of criminal law and the justice system to retaliate against journalists simply carrying out their work is not new, but human rights groups have observed an intensified crackdown since 2025. This raises significant concerns ahead of COP31, which will naturally draw many domestic and international journalists to cover a matter of global concern. Government restrictions on what can be covered and by whom are a significant breach of press freedom and citizens’ access to information that will undercut COP31 and its goals.
The moment also compels scrutiny of the government’s response to its own citizens’ efforts to address climate-related challenges. Around the country, communities have organized campaigns to protest environmental destruction and degradation, particularly involving coal mining and deforestation. Authorities, including in the courts, have largely dismissed them, prioritizing business interests over community concerns. They have also more aggressively sought to quash dissent. One recent example involves environmental human rights defender Esra Işık, who has long campaigned against the forced expropriation of land and property for use by a coal mining company in her home province of Muğla. She was arrested in late March 2026 and explicitly held in pretrial detention to prevent her participation in a protest, before being convicted in July. Preemptive, punitive action taken against a peaceful environmental activist serves as a dire warning to anyone intending to engage in COP31. It is reinforced by a more recent escalation in the number of arbitrary arrests and prosecutions of, as well as use of force against, activists and others involved in environmental protests. More broadly, human rights groups documented a severe escalation of internet censorship in the month before the conference, with authorities blocking access to more than 1,000 social media accounts in September 2026 alone.
In March 2026, five UN Special Rapporteurs had published a joint statement urging Türkiye to end the criminalization of human rights defenders and lawyers. The statement came one year after the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) noted significant concern about the detention of more than 1,000 people during and following protests, including media workers and elected officials. The statement urged Turkish authorities “to ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly are guaranteed, in line with international law, and that credible allegations of unlawful use of force against protesters are promptly and thoroughly investigated.”
As illustrated, Türkiye has not only ignored these calls but, rather, has intensified its crackdown on civil society in the run-up to COP31. The escalation was predictable—already in the month before hosting the July NATO summit, authorities in Ankara imposed a 13-day ban on all public assemblies and demonstrations; blocked social media accounts of LGBT and women’s rights organizations; and arrested more than 200 people, including political and environmental activists, lawyers, and journalists, in a series of raids justified on baseless national security grounds. When asked soon after to confirm that authorities would provide security guarantees for public protests outside UN-controlled areas during COP31, the head of Türkiye’s Climate Change Presidency in the Ministry of Environment declined, arguing they would not be necessary. Unless stronger measures are taken to hold the State accountable, the government will likely escalate its repression even as the global spotlight shines on it.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognizes that protecting human rights is essential for effective climate action. Robust and rights-respecting climate action, in turn, requires the full and meaningful participation of civil society in climate negotiations, including on key outcome documents of COP31. This reality drove the launch at COP30 of the Leaders Network for Environmental Activists and Defenders (LEAD)—a multistakeholder convening space to promote dialogue and action to secure the recognition and protection of environmental human rights defenders and their meaningful participation in decision making. The respect for freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association; tolerance for diverse and dissenting voices; and the free flow of information are, therefore, critical. Guaranteeing them should be a core requirement for hosting any global convening, including COP.
In its unprecedented role as co-host of COP31, Australia also has a particular responsibility to ensure that human rights and civic space are protected. As President of Negotiations, it has pledged to take a “transparent, inclusive and consultative” approach to building consensus and making progress on all issues. But if Türkiye, as President, restricts or deters full civil society participation in COP31 processes, Australia cannot genuinely fulfill this commitment. Human rights and environmental organizations have already pointed to the inherent conflict in Australia’s planned expansion of fossil fuel production and emphasized the importance of being guided by Indigenous leaders, particularly from the Pacific.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The UNFCCC should insist that future COP hosts uphold their obligations under international human rights law, including by guaranteeing the rights to freedom of expression and to peaceful assembly, both of which are preconditions to ensure an ambitious COP outcome. These responsibilities and the steps a host country intends to fulfill them should be detailed in the host country agreement (HCA), which the UNFCCC should make public in full and accessible in a timely manner.
The UNFCCC and its Member States should take the following steps:
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Ensure that the interests of the fossil fuel industry do not undermine the credibility and outcome of climate negotiations at COP31 and future COPs, including by developing and implementing a concrete UNFCCC Accountability Framework for state and non-state actors that includes a robust conflict of interest policy;
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Press the government of Türkiye to respect its human rights obligations, including by immediately and unconditionally releasing arbitrarily detained activists, journalists, and human rights defenders. They should guarantee the participation of diverse civil society representatives, without fear of reprisal. Australia, in particular, should use its role as co-host and President of Negotiations to ensure these conditions necessary for a successful COP;
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Call on Turkish authorities to implement concrete, measurable, structural reforms to ensure that positive changes endure beyond COP31. They should put into place mechanisms for follow-up monitoring to verify that progress is upheld and enable effective and timely intervention in the event of any backsliding. This could include establishing a focal point to examine cases of retaliation or backlash traceable to engagement in or around the climate talks.
We urge the Government of Türkiye uphold its commitments as a member of numerous multilateral organizations and initiatives that have human rights elements, and its obligations as a party to key international human rights treaties, by taking the following steps:
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Immediately and unconditionally release all arbitrarily detained human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society activists, and drop the bogus charges against them;
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End the persecution and criminalization of human rights defenders and civil society groups carrying out work in support of marginalized communities, including LGBTQI+ people, environmental defenders, Roma people, refugees and migrants, and other minorities.
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Cease the use of criminal prosecution as a tool to suppress government critics, journalists, and members of civil society;
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Amend laws regulating critical speech and disinformation that have had a chilling effect on civil society and clarify guidance for their application to prevent their misuse against the peaceful exercise of free expression, peaceful assembly, association, and press.
The UNFCCC Member States and Secretariat; other key international actors and organizations, such as the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank Group; and companies with business interests in Türkiye should all stand in firm solidarity with Türkiye’s independent civil society. Many civic actors, at great personal risk, continue to fight for human rights and climate justice in the country and the world. Türkiye’s international partners should put their weight behind the calls for specific steps made here, help ensure the government takes them as a matter of urgent priority, and hold Türkiye accountable to following through. They should make public statements recognizing the role of human rights defenders, journalists, and other civil society actors and support their free, safe, and accessible participation, including by joining the Leaders Network for Environmental Activists and Defenders (LEAD).
CONCLUSION
The crisis for civic space and human rights in Türkiye makes it incumbent on the UNFCCC Secretariat and Member States to take concrete steps to ensure a safe space for diverse civil society participation ahead of and at COP31. They should ensure the government of Türkiye does not block individuals and groups critical of the government from participating in the conference and that it respects the rights of all participants to speak freely and assemble peacefully inside and outside the conference venue.
It is important that the government of Türkiye make an explicit commitment to guarantee these freedoms. It should match its words with action, including by releasing human rights defenders, journalists, and critics who have been arbitrarily detained and dropping charges against peaceful protesters. Doing so well before November is crucial to ensuring full and free engagement in and around COP31 and thus integral to effectively and meaningfully tackling the global climate crisis.
Organizations
Amnesty International
Climate Rights International
Council for Global Equality
EA European Exchange gGmbH
EarthRights International
FreeAytaj Campaign
Freedom Now
Global Project Against Hate and Extremism
Human Rights First
Immigration Equality
MADRE
Rainbow Railroad
Reporters Without Borders