GfbV celebrates its work and calls on Turkey and Russia to keep to the human rights convention

For many victims of violations of human rights the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is the last hope when all domestic courts have failed. This is particularly the case with oppressed minorities like the Kurds in Turkey or the Chechnyans, who have no hope of justice in the Russian courts. "The work of the ECtHR on Turkey and Russia is also important because it plays a great part in documenting and publicizing the violations of human rights and presents to the world standards of independent court procedures”. These are the words of praise from the President of the Society for Threatened Peoples International (GfbV), Tilman Zülch, in Göttingen.

With 257 convictions in the year 2008 Turkey leads the field in human rights violations in Europe, closely followed by Russia with a total of 233 convictions, of which more than 60 are sentences in Chechnya. These are almost all convictions for murder, torture or causing Chechnyans to

"disappear”. Together with Rumania and Ukraine, Russia and Turkey make up 57% of all complaints concerning the violation of human rights brought to the ECtHR. The remaining 43% are spread over the other 43 signatories to the convention.

"The ECtHR must not be forced to replace the independent justice in countries like Turkey and Russia. These countries must accept international standards and at last put into practice the conventions which they have ratified”, demands the GfbV.

An absolutely shocking example of the conditions obtaining in Turkey, which are sometimes in complete contravention of the human rights conventions, is the case of the Kurd Oktay Güveç, who was imprisoned when under the age of 15, in September 1995 because he was presumed to be a member of the forbidden Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). He was accused of collecting money for the PKK and in this connection of setting fire to a car. Güveç confessed, but stated later that he had been tortured and forced to a confession. The eye-witness reports were also later withdrawn. At the hearing and in the first months of his case the fifteen-year old had no lawyer. His family was not allowed to visit him. For 18 months Güveç livedunder fear of the death penalty. Although this was clearly a matter for a juvenile court Güveç was sentenced in accordance with the criminal law for adults. He also spent five years in a prison for adult criminals. He tried on two occasions to take his own life. He now lives in Belgium, where he has been granted asylum

The case of Oktay Güveç is unfortunately not the only one. Human rights, including those of children, are in Turkey constantly being disregarded. Turkey is constantly being censured by the ECtHR for failure to abide by the human rights conventions. In the Oktay Güveç case the sentence passed was a fine of 50,000 euros for torture and failure to abide by the right to freedom and security and the right to a fair trial. This money was paid to Güveç by way of compensation.