Striking details about Turkey in the report of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe

The report of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which oversees the implementation of ECHR decisions, on the year 2022 has been published today. The report, which includes assessments of practices in the 46 member countries of the Council, also explains the situation regarding Turkey.

THE CONTENT OF PENDING CASES HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED

In the section where statistics about Türkiye are shared; It was claimed that the Committee of Ministers took over 77 cases brought against Turkey by the ECtHR in 2022 to supervise them. In the report, which mentions that there are 480 pending cases in Turkey as of December 31, 2022, the report states that “The number of pending cases includes clusters of cases especially related to freedom of expression and assembly, the independence of the judiciary, detention without sufficient justification, ineffective investigations, impunity and intrafamily violence. One of the violations found by the Court in 2022 relates to the proceedings in a case in which the Court found that Turkey did not comply with a final decision under Article 46 § 1.

It was stated that the Committee of Ministers examined 13 cases from 6 countries (Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine) in 2022 within the scope of article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the section that includes the details of the cases in question, the cases of businessman Osman Kavala and former HDP co-chairman Selahattin Demirtaş were also included.

On February 2, 2022, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe officially launched a violation procedure against Turkey for failing to implement the ECtHR decision of December 10, 2019 on businessman Osman Kavala, detained since October 18, 2017 . .

“COMMITTEE CALLS ON AUTHORITIES TO TAKE NECESSARY MEASURES”

Recalling that the Committee concluded that Turkey did not comply with the ECtHR decision in the Kavala case, the following was noted:

* “The Committee deeply regrets that the applicant has not yet been released despite the clear and final conclusions of the Grand Chamber in the Kavala judgment (article 46/4). The Committee urged the authorities to remove all negative consequences of the charges against the applicant by ensuring his immediate release.

* The Committee welcomed the high-level discussions between the former Chairman of the Committee of Ministers and his counterpart, the Turkish Foreign Minister, and encouraged further discussions at this level, encouraging all member states, the Secretary General and other Council of Europe bodies and observer states to further raise the case and asked him to intensify his high-level contacts with Turkey.

* The Committee also took note of the establishment of a group of ambassadors to help the president establish contacts with Turkish officials. With regard to general measures, the Committee urged the authorities to take legislative and other measures to ensure the full independence and impartiality of the Turkish judiciary, including the executive branch, in particular, inspired by the Council of Europe standards on the structural independence of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors”.

With 413 cases in Russia, 145 cases in Ukraine, 137 cases in Romania, 78 cases in Serbia and 77 cases in Turkey in 2022, the countries with the highest number of new cases submitted to the Committee ranked in the top five places. During the year, a total of 1,459 new cases were presented to the Committee.

The number of cases awaiting the Committee’s decision was recorded at 6,112 in 2022. Among the countries with the largest number of pending cases, Russia ranked first with 2,352 cases. Russia was followed by Ukraine with 716 cases, Romania with 509 cases, Turkey with 480 cases, and Azerbaijan with 285 cases.

In 2022, the Committee closed a total of 880 cases. The countries with the highest number of closed cases are the following: Hungary 109 cases, Turkey 107 cases, Ukraine 67 cases, Serbia 57 cases, Moldova 53 cases. PHOENIX