The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that keeping a person in prison for life without the possibility of release constitutes a violation of the “right to hope” and that the right of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Ocalan had been violated. The reforms requested from Turkey in 2014 have still not been implemented despite the passage of time. 

 

The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers has given Turkey until 2026 to enact legislation on the "right to hope," which it has placed on its agenda. Granting Turkey a second extension, the Council recommended that the Parliamentary Commission established following Abdullah Ocalan's Call for Peace and a Democratic Society on 27 February enact the legislation within the given timeframe. 

 

The demand for regulation regarding the "right to hope," which remains on the agenda, is also on the agenda of the Democracy and International Law Association (MAF-DAD), established years ago by German, Turkish, and Kurdish lawyers and human rights activists. MAF-DAD has been conducting various legal and political efforts for the recognition of the "right to hope," and submitted its views on the effective use of the "right to hope" to the Committee of Ministers on 21 July, under Rule 9/2, which allows various institutions to report on the follow-up of ECHR judgments, together with various legal organisations it works with. 

 

MAF-DAD also sent a letter to members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Committee of Ministers on 12 September this year, requesting parliamentarians to include the implementation of the "right to hope" on their agendas.

 

WORK OF MAF-DAD 

 

MAF-DAD Co-chair Heike Geisweid, assessing the issue for the Mezopotamya Agency (MA), stated that their work has many focal points, including the removal of the PKK from the European Union's (EU) "terror list," Turkey's crimes against the Kurds, and war crimes in Rojava. Heike Geisweid said that they had filed a complaint with the German Federal Prosecutor's Office under the International Criminal Code regarding the killing of Kurdish civilians, the use of chemical gases against PKK members, and attacks on medical facilities in Rojava, as crimes against humanity and war crimes. 

 

A POLITICAL DECISION

 

Heike Geisweid said that holding a person in prison for life without the possibility of release violates the "prohibition of torture and ill-treatment" stipulated in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and stated that the non-implementation of the convention is incompatible with human dignity. She stated that Turkey's decision not to implement the "right to hope" was political, saying, "The political consequences of failing to implement the right to hope include a further loss of credibility for the Turkish government in the area of human rights and the rule of law, as well as a hardening of positions between the state and the Kurdish population. The failure to implement the right to hope must be seen as a political decision in a nationalist context against Mr Abdullah Ocalan and thus against the resolution of the so-called Kurdish question."

 

'POSTPONEMENT UNDERMINES CONFIDENCE IN THE ECHR'

 

Criticising the Committee of Ministers for granting Turkey a second extension until 2026 after the initial deadline for legal reform had expired, Heike Geisweid pointed out that Turkey had failed to enact legislation on the 'right to hope' for 11 years. Heike Geisweid stated that the Committee's recommendations to Turkey regarding the "right to hope" in 2018 and 2023 were similar to the decisions of the United Nations (UN) Committee Against Torture (CPT), adding, " Turkey has not yet responded to these either. The constant postponement undermines confidence in the binding nature of ECtHR decisions.”

 

APPLICATION TO THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS 

 

Regarding MAF-DAD's application to the Committee, Heike Geisweid said that they wanted legislative changes regarding the "right to hope" and the creation of mechanisms to guarantee this, as well as transparency in data on aggravated life sentences. She said that because the Committee's demands for these steps had not been met, the issue remained on the Committee's agenda. Heike Geisweid said, "We have asked the Committee of Ministers to take urgent measures to put pressure on Turkey, namely to demand that Turkey to demand transparent and comprehensive statistical data on aggravated life imprisonment, to abolish without distinction legal provisions that prohibit conditional release, to ensure regular and frequent monitoring of the implementation of the Öcalan No. 2 and Gurban Group judgments, and to consider effective intervention in the absence of progress."

 

'MEMBER STATES ARE OBLIGED TO APPLY PRESSURE'

 

Heike Geisweid stated that the Committee must implement various options to ensure the implementation of the decisions, adding, “In our view, the Committee of Ministers should make use of further options to demand implementation of the ECtHR's decisions, namely by initiating infringement proceedings with the withdrawal of voting rights from the Turkish delegates to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and exclusion from the Council of Europe. The member states of the Council of Europe should also feel obliged to work towards the implementation of the judgments in Turkey and to exert political and economic pressure.”

 

Heike Geisweid said that if the Committee's decision in September is not implemented, the violation procedure should be initiated against Turkey and pressure should be increased. 

 

'NO PEACE WITHOUT HOPE'

 

Noting that the Committee has not yet responded to their applications, Heike Geisweid said that the failure to apply the "right to hope" to Abdullah Ocalan has "symbolic implications." Heike Geisweid noted that the failure to implement the decision reinforced the impression that the judiciary had become politicised and led to the legitimisation of the State of Emergency (OHAL) as a permanent situation. 

 

"This weakens the population's trust in democratic institutions and minority rights as a whole. Socially, it leads to a deepening of social polarisation and erosion of civil society peace initiatives and increases social tensions. Without hope, there can be no peace, and without peace, there can be no democratisation. The denial of this right is therefore a structural obstacle to a democratic future for Turkey.”

 

COUNCIL PRINCIPLES ARE BEING IGNORED

 

Heike Geisweid reminded that the Council of Europe is an institution that aims to contribute to protecting and promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law in its member states and said: “An institution such as the Council of Europe, which seeks to protect and promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe and its member states, thereby contributing to the resolution of social problems, undermines and disregards its own principles when it engages in the political calculations of a state such as Turkey in the case of the right to hope. It should not be forgotten that disregarding the decisions of the ECtHR is a clear violation of international law.

Each individual member state of the Council of Europe is therefore called upon to also advocate for compliance with the decisions of the ECtHR at the political level and thus exert political pressure on Turkey.”

 

'EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM'

 

Heike Geisweid stated that the European Union member states perceive the issues concerning democracy and human rights violations in Turkey from a geostrategic and economic perspective, and tend to view these issues as personalised problems rather than explaining them in structural terms. 

 

Heike Geisweid concluded: "European governments are aware of the problem, but avoid clear public confrontation in order to avoid geopolitical tensions. This ambivalence is reflected in the public sphere. What is not clearly stated politically is rarely perceived as urgent by society. There is often a lack of awareness that this is a core issue of human dignity. The European public is largely unaware of the long-term consequences, namely the erosion of the credibility of European human rights standards and the strengthening of authoritarian patterns of argumentation. The European public perceives the symptoms, but not the implications. The disregard for the right to hope in Turkey is often seen as a domestic problem, yet it touches on the normative core of the European understanding of law and values.”

 

MA / Hivda Celebi