Saturday 27 July 2013

Protesters in Turkey Seriously Injured by Teargas Fire 
Photo © 2013 Miguel Carminati 

Burak Ünveren, a protester, lost an eye when Turkey's police fired a teargas canister directly at him. Close-range teargas canister fire also fractured Hasan Kiliçgedik's skull and broke Ergin Sahin's leg.

Although teargas is normally not a lethal weapon, teargas canisters can inflict serious and even life-threatening wounds when fired directly at people, which happened over and over again in Istanbul's Gezi Park protests. Human Rights Watch independently documented 10 such cases, and local groups recorded many more.

In addition to firing teargas canisters directly at protesters, police shot huge quantities of teargas into confined spaces such as a hotel lobby, a hospital, and makeshift health clinics.

Read more >>