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Istanbul police detain over 200 rights activists

ISTANBUL: Turkish police on Saturday detained at least 200 human rights activists before they could march in central Istanbul to protest at the government's failure to stop alleged human rights abuses, witnesses said.

Some 1,000 demonstrators gathered in the central Tunel district of the city to begin a rally, organised by the Istanbul branch of the independent Human Rights Association (IHD).

But their march was stopped by police, who cordoned them off at the small square where they gathered and later made them board police buses to be taken to custody, witnesses said.

"Our count is that there were something like at least 200 detentions. They were packed into on seven police buses," a spokeswoman from IHD told Reuters.

"This was a fully legal and permitted march, and we still do not understand why police stopped it," she said.

Some demonstrators shouted slogans including "Humanity's Honour will Defeat Torture".

The Turkish government has been criticised by local and international human rights groups for failing to stop torture, especially during police and paramilitary gendarmerie interrogations.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit pledged in December after the European Union gave Ankara candidate status to prevent torture and other abuses, and raise the country's tarnished human rights record up to EU standards.

The EU is seeking tangible steps from the government to bring an end to rights abuses, particularly in the country's conflict-ridden, mainly Kurdish southeast.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in fighting between troops and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels who have waged a campaign for self-rule since 1984.-Reuters