WORLD

Europe rights body launches rare action against Turkey

The Council of Europe on Wednesday launched for only the second time in its history disciplinary action over Turkey’s failure to free activist Osman Kavala, with Ankara denouncing the decision as interference.

The pan-European rights body’s committee of ministers agreed the move over Turkey’s repeated refusal to comply with a 2019 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights to release Kavala from jail.

Under the rules of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, the case is now being referred back to the ECHR, which will examine if Turkey has complied with its original 2019 ruling.

Its new verdict could then prompt action against Ankara from the committee of ministers, including suspension of Turkey’s voting rights or even expulsion from the COE under article eight of its statutes.

A COE spokesman declined to comment, saying an official statement would be issued Thursday.

The Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement that the committee of ministers had agreed by “majority vote” to refer the case back to the ECHR.

The committee “has maintained its stance that interferes with the independence of the judicial proceedings and violated the principle of respect for judicial proceedings,” the Turkish foreign ministry said.

A source close to the case in Strasbourg, who asked not to be named, also confirmed to AFP the case was going back to the ECHR.

This is only the second time the COE has used infringement proceedings against one of its 47 member states, the first occasion being a 2017 action against Azerbaijan over its refusal to release dissident Ilgar Mammadov.

The procedure was created in 2010 to ensure full compliance with ECHR rulings, which are legally binding for COE member states and not advisory.

– ‘Rule of law crisis’ –

The opening of the infringement proceedings comes as concern grows over rights abuses under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish leader has repeatedly targeted Kavala, who has now been in jail for over four years without ever being convicted of a crime.

Amnesty International’s Europe Director Nils Muiznieks hailed the move as a “landmark decision”.

“Turkey is in the dock not only for its refusal to free a prominent human rights defender from arbitrary detention, but also for a gross failure of its justice system epitomised by the Kavala case,” he said.

Aisling Reidy, senior legal adviser at Human Rights Watch, said the decision represented an “important acknowledgement of Turkey’s rule of law crisis”.

She said it “shows a resolve to uphold the international human rights law framework on which the Council of Europe is based.”

A Turkish court had on January 17 ignored a final deadline set by the COE for the release of Kavala by ordering that he be kept in jail.

He is charged with financing 2013 anti-government protests and playing a role in an attempted coup against Erdogan in 2016.

Turkey is not the only state to have defied the ECHR, and the UK has for years been in conflict with the court over its refusal to implement an order that prisoners should be given the right to vote.

The Turkish foreign ministry charged that “constantly bringing the Kavala judgment forward on the agenda is a malicious, intentional and inconsistent approach”, accusing the COE of a “prejudiced and politically motivated decision”.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button
Close