They write…
We are launching a legal campaign called the Turkey Human Rights Accountability Project to have prominent abusers of human rights in Turkey placed on the United?Kingdom’s sanction list. This will be a springboard for similar submission in the United States and the European Union.
Since 2016, there has been a relentless campaign of arrests which has targeted lawyers across Turkey and has also affected all levels of Turkish society.
In 77 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, lawyers, Presidents of Bar Associations, and even judges who refused to act on the Government’s direction have been detained and arrested on trumped-up charges as part of criminal investigations conducted by provincial public prosecutors (See).?Those also imprisoned for long periods after politically motivated prosecutions are activists, journalists, and academics.
The individuals who have been subject to arbitrary detention include civil society leader Osman Kavala, the President and the Director of Amnesty International in Turkey Taner K?l?ç and ?dil Eser, lawyers Selçuk Kozagaçl? and Turan Canpolat, author and journalists Ahmet Altan Aysenur Par?ldak, and Mustafa Ünal, academics Prof. Mümtazer Türköne and Prof. Sedat Laçiner, and art director Fevzi Yaz?c? amongst many others.
In heart-breaking recent news, we learnt that imprisoned lawyer Ebru Timtik had passed away in her quest for a fair trial and the ending of her imprisonment solely for representing the downtrodden (See).
The Turkish authorities and prosecutors hold a huge amount of power to determine who is kept imprisoned and for how long. This power is largely unchecked by Turkey’s legal system which often acts at their whim. The Turkish courts routinely ignore the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the UN, particularly, those ordering the release of certain detainees.
Many of those who have been detained have been subject to torture, solitary confinement, denial of health services and access to counsel, and some have died in custody. Some judges and prosecutors have even been extorting money from those held in custody in return for their release.
The UN and Council of Europe bodies, national and international NGOs, and Bar Associations around the world have published credible reports on these human rights violations by Turkish officials. The Turkish government has offered its officials, such as the prosecutors who send innocent lawyers and others to prison for lengthy sentences in squalid condition, effective immunity. This has meant that it is impossible to bring human rights abusers to justice within Turkey or to challenge their actions.
We think this all needs to stop.
We are fundraising to seek accountability for those responsible for these political prosecutions and detentions which are causing great damage to individuals, their families, and Turkish society.
The first step in this process is to push for the sanctioning of those responsible under the United Kingdom’s new Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations.? To this end, we intend to instruct two top English human rights barristers to:
??i) advise on which human rights violators we should be seeking to be added?to the sanctions list;
ii) engage in political lobbying to draw attention to the harm caused by those involved in arbitrary detentions in Turkey;
iii) draft detailed submissions for the individuals identified to be sanctioned; and
iv) seek to engage with officials of the UK Government to press the case for sanctions.
We believe that this work is important to counter the impunity enjoyed by those involved in the unlawful imprisonments and draw international attention to this problem.
The funding will also pay for all?other expenses relating to the campaign including publicity, hosting events to support the campaign, and any?necessary?travel.
Any funds remaining after the above work is undertaken will be put towards exploring other sanction options as well as other ways to hold those responsible to account using domestic and international legal mechanisms.
The Arrested Lawyers Initiative
@ArrestedLawyers
