Nov 3, 2023 | News
Former Deputies and Mayors Face Prosecution and Prolonged Incarceration for Political Speech.
The Turkish government should abide by international law and implement the binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) by immediately releasing politicians Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, who formerly co-chaired the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), four rights organizations said today.
The four nongovernmental organizations—Human Rights Watch, the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project, the International Commission of Jurists, and the International Federation for Human Rights—made their call on the seventh anniversary of the politicians’ wrongful imprisonment.
“The seventh anniversary of the unlawful incarceration of Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ is a stark reminder of the Erdoğan presidency’s willingness to use detention for political ends to silence democratically elected opposition politicians representing millions of Kurdish and leftist voters in Turkey,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “In defying the binding ECtHR judgments ordering the politicians’ release, Turkey is flagrantly violating its legal obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and international law more broadly.”
On November 4, 2016, months after being stripped of their parliamentary immunity, Demirtaş, Yüksekdağ and eight fellow members of parliament from the HDP were arbitrarily detained and placed in pretrial detention, with four others incarcerated over the following five months. At the time, the HDP held 10.7 percent of seats in Turkey’s parliament and was backed by over five million voters. While the 12 other deputies whose cases are covered in the ECtHR judgments are no longer in detention, Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ remain incarcerated.
All the former parliamentarians have been repeatedly prosecuted in individual proceedings based exclusively on their exercise of their right to freedom of expression, protected under international law. This included their political speeches and activities, which did not involve or advocate violence. When a mass trial was opened against them in 2021, many of those ongoing individual case files were merged. The vague and wide-reaching accusations against them in this trial include allegations of “undermining the unity and territorial integrity of the State” (separatism) and even “murder.” These accusations relate to their support for protests that mainly took place in cities in southeast Turkey between October 6 and 8, 2014. The politicians have been held responsible for all offences allegedly committed over the course of these protests, which were organized against the brutal siege of the Kurdish-majority northern Syrian town of Kobane by the extremist armed group Islamic State (also known as ISIS). During the protests, 37 people reportedly died.
The evidence against the politicians, on the basis of which Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ are currently detained, consists of two social media postings supporting protests over the Kobane siege sent from the HDP Twitter account, together with the politicians’ nonviolent political speeches, lawful activities, and witness statements against them added to the case file years later that raise serious questions of credibility.
The ECtHR determined in three judgments—two pertaining to Demirtaş in November 2018 and December 2020, and one to Yüksekdağ and 12 others in October 2022—that their detention on the basis of speeches and social media postings was a politically motivated move to silence them, “stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate, the very core of the concept of a democratic society.” The court found that their rights to liberty, to freedom of expression, and to be elected had been violated. The facts forming the basis on which Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ are detained and were prosecuted for in the 2021 mass trial are substantially the same as those contained in the proceedings which the ECtHR found to be insufficient grounds for their detention.
“Despite the European Court ruling that the grounds to justify Yüksekdağ and Demirtaş’s detention were insufficient, the Ankara public prosecutor in April 2023 requested their conviction on numerous alleged offences concerning their political speech, which may result in their life imprisonment without parole,” said Temur Shakirov, interim director of the International Commission of Jurists’ Europe and Central Asia Programme. “This underscores the ultimate political motives behind the ongoing case targeting the two and reinforces doubts about the fair administration of justice in the country.”
After Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ’s detentions in November 2016, Turkey held a landmark referendum and several crucial election campaigns. The April 16, 2017 constitutional referendum introduced a system of governance concentrating power in the hands of the president. It was followed by the June 24, 2018 presidential election in which Demirtaş ran as a candidate from his prison cell against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the March 31, 2019 local elections, and, most recently, the May 14-28, 2023 parliamentary and presidential elections.
“With two prominent figures of the opposition in detention, the country has been deprived of a significant measure of meaningful democratic debate and fair elections around these crucial campaigns,” said Reyhan Yalçındağ, vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights. “With the March 2024 local elections fast approaching, the Committee of Ministers and the other Council of Europe bodies need to use all available means to ensure the end of the continuing violations of Demirtaş’s and Yüksekdağ’s rights, including their rights to participation in public affairs, which is also a violation of the rights of millions of voters.”
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, responsible for overseeing member states’ implementation of ECtHR judgements, has issued six decisions and two resolutions calling on Turkey to release Demirtaş from detention. At its December 5-7 session this year, the Committee of Ministers will for the third time examine Turkey’s failure to implement the judgment pertaining to Yüksekdağ and release her from detention.
The four nongovernmental organizations have made a joint submission to the Committee of Ministers asking it to issue a decision in December calling for the release of Yüksekdağ.
“Turkey has ignored the Committee’s numerous decisions and interim resolutions calling for Demirtaş’s immediate release. This refusal to comply with Turkey’s international obligations has been repeated in the case of Yüksekdağ,” said Ayşe Bingöl Demir, director of the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project. “The Committee must intensify its scrutiny against Turkey in relation to these cases without further delay, and this must include the triggering of infringement proceedings, in line with the route rightly followed in the case of the imprisoned rights defender Osman Kavala.”
Eighteen other elected former party officials and mayors from the HDP and an affiliated party, the Democratic Regions Party, are also currently detained. Among them is the prominent former elected mayor of Diyarbakır, Gültan Kışanak, detained since October 25, 2016, and Sebahat Tuncel, former co-chair of the Democratic Regions Party, detained on November 6, 2016. Kışanak’s pretrial detention has exceeded the legal limit of seven years under Turkish law, notwithstanding that seven years’ pretrial detention is a flagrant violation of international human rights law. The detentions of the politicians are blatantly arbitrary and politically motivated, and those imprisoned should be immediately released, the organizations said.
Press release in Turkish: Turkey Demirtas and Yuksekdag press release TURKISH
Mar 1, 2021 | News
The Turkish government’s failure to comply with a binding European Court of Human Rights order to release the human rights defender Osman Kavala should prompt Council of Europe action against Turkey, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, and the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project said today.
The three nongovernmental organizations presented the recommendation in a submission to the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe’s intergovernmental body responsible for overseeing the implementation of European Court of Human Rights judgments. The committee is to review Turkey’s noncompliance with the Strasbourg court’s judgment on Kavala’s case for the fourth time at its March 9-11, 2021 session. Kavala has been held in pretrial detention since November 2017.
“Turkey’s flagrant disregard for the European Court of Human Rights order to release Osman Kavala should trigger the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to start infringement proceedings against Turkey,” said Aisling Reidy, senior legal adviser at Human Rights Watch. “It is crucial for the Committee of Ministers, at its March session, to leave the Turkish government in no doubt that European Court of Human Rights judgments are binding on Turkey and that persistent failure to implement the ruling in Osman Kavala’s case constitutes a serious breach requiring exceptional measures.”
The Committee of Ministers may opt to take infringement proceedings against a Council of Europe member state that refuses to implement European Court of Human Rights judgments. It was used for the first time in 2017 when the government of Azerbaijan continuously refused to secure the unconditional release of a wrongfully jailed opposition politician, Ilgar Mammadov.
Infringement proceedings are provided for under Article 46/4 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Their commencement requires the vote of two-thirds of the Committee of Ministers. Once the process is triggered, the case is referred back to the European Court of Human Rights for a further opinion on the legally binding obligation to comply. If the Court confirms that Turkey has failed to implement the ruling, the Committee of Ministers may then take additional measures, including ultimately suspending Turkey’s voting rights or membership of the Council of Europe.
The Committee of Ministers has already considered the status of Turkey’s compliance with the judgment on multiple occasions, issuing two decisions and, in December 2020, an interim resolution that each strongly urged Turkey to comply with the court’s judgment by unconditionally releasing Kavala.
However, since the December resolution, local courts in Turkey have prolonged Kavala’s detention four more times. A court of appeal has overturned his acquittal in the Gezi Park protests trial, and Turkey’s Constitutional Court has also flouted the European Court of Human Rights judgment by finding no violation of Kavala’s right to liberty.
“The Kavala case is emblematic of the crisis facing civil society and the rule of law in Turkey,”. said Helen Duffy of the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project. “We recognize that infringement proceedings are exceptional, but if there is a case where they are justified, it is this one.”
“Turning a deaf ear to the Strasbourg court’s clear order to release and the Committee of Minister’s repeated calls for compliance, Turkey’s government and courts have worked hand in glove to prolong and deepen the crisis and the violation of Mr. Kavala’s rights. Infringement proceedings against Turkey provide the strongest legal mechanism to signal the shame of not complying with European Court of Human Rights’ binding judgments.”
The organizations said in their submission that, throughout the criminal proceedings against him, judges and prosecutors involved have abused criminal procedural rules to unlawfully extend Kavala’s detention based on allegations that he organized and financed the 2013 Istanbul Gezi Park protests and that he was involved in the July 15, 2016 attempted military coup.
A key aspect of this effort has been the practice of different courts over the three years and four months of Kavala’setention successively joining, separating, and rejoining case files against Kavala to justify prolonging his incarceration.
At the most recent local court hearing against Kavala, on February 5, 2021, the Istanbul 36th Assize Court ruled that the case against him concerning the coup attempt should be joined with the Gezi Park protests case, which is before the Istanbul 30th Assize Court. A hearing of the newly joined cases will take place on May 21.
The organizations said in their submission that the decision to merge the proceedings against Kavala voids Turkey’s repeated argument before the Committee of Ministers that Kavala’s current detention is connected to a separate prosecution not covered by the Strasbourg court judgment. The groups also said that the Turkish government needs to address the structural problems raised in the Kavala judgment by revising its action plan to implement the ruling.
“Separating cases or merging them again will not correct the injustice to which Turkey’s courts and government have subjected Osman Kavala for over three years,” said Róisín Pillay, Europe and Central Asia director of the International Commission of Jurists. “This case is part of a systemic practice in which the Turkish courts, which are not independent, apply criminal law and procedures arbitrarily against critics of the government. The action plan needs to address these structural failings in the judicial system.”
The European Court of Human Rights judgment in Kavala v. Turkey is particularly significant because it is the first final ruling of the European Court of Human Rights against Turkey in which the court determined that, in interfering with an individual’s rights, the Turkish judicial authorities served ulterior political motivations, contrary to Article 18 of the ECHR.
The court said that by holding Kavala in pretrial detention since November 2017 and prosecuting him, the Turkish authorities had “pursued an ulterior purpose, namely to silence him as human rights defender.” The court found violations of articles 18 and 5 of the ECHR.
Find the submission here: Turkey-Kavala_v_TurkeyExecution-JointSubmission3-HRWICJTHRLP-2021-ENG
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Turkey, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/turkey
For more ICJ work on Turkey, please visit:
https://www.icj.org/search/?fwp_search=Turkey&submit=Search
For more on TLSP work, please see:
https://www.turkeylitigationsupport.com/
Türkiye: Osman Kavala’nın haklarının ihlali ağırlaşıyor
Avrupa Konseyi Bakanlar Komitesi Türkiye’ye Yönelik İhlal Prosedürünü Başlatmalıdır
İnsan Hakları İzleme Örgütü, Uluslararası Hukukçular Komisyonu ve Türkiye İnsan Hakları Davalarına Destek Projesi, Türkiye hükümeti tarafından Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi’nin insan hakları savunucusu Osman Kavala’nın serbest bırakılması kararına uyulmamasının, Avrupa Konseyi tarafından Türkiye’ye yönelik işlem yapılmasını gerektirdiğini belirtti.
Üç sivil toplum kuruluşu, Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi kararlarının uygulanmasını denetlemekten sorumlu Avrupa Konseyi hükümetler arası organı olan Bakanlar Komitesi’ne tavsiyeler içeren bir bildirimde bulundu. Bakanlar Komitesi, 9-11 Mart 2021 tarihli oturumunda Türkiye’nin AİHM’in Kavala başvurusuna ilişkin kararını uygulamamasını dördüncü kez gözden geçirecek. Kavala, Kasım 2017’den bu yana tutuklu.
İnsan Hakları İzleme Örgütü Kıdemli Hukuk Danışmanı Aisling Reidy, “Türkiye’nin, Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi’nin Osman Kavala’nın serbest bırakılması kararını açıkça göz ardı etmesi, Avrupa Konseyi Bakanlar Komitesi’ni Türkiye’ye karşı ihlal prosedürünü başlatmaya yöneltmelidir” dedi. Reidy, “Bakanlar Komitesi’nin Mart ayında yapacağı oturumda, Türkiye hükümetinde şüpheye yer bırakmayacak şekilde Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi kararlarının Türkiye için bağlayıcı olduğunu ve Osman Kavala başvurusunda kararın yerine getirilmemesinin istisnai önlemler gerektiren ciddi bir ihlal teşkil ettiğini ortaya koyması çok önemlidir.” dedi.
Bakanlar Komitesi, Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi kararlarını yerine getirmeyi reddeden bir Avrupa Konseyi üyesi devlete karşı ihlal prosedürünü başlatmayı tercih edebilir. İhlal prosedürü ilk olarak 2017’de, haksız yere hapsedilen muhalif politikacı Ilgar Mammadov’un koşulsuz olarak serbest bırakılmasının Azerbaycan hükümeti tarafından sürekli olarak reddedilmesi üzerine uygulanmıştı.
Bu prosedür, Avrupa İnsan Hakları Sözleşmesi’nin (AİHS) 46/4. maddesinde düzenlenmekte olup,başlatılması Bakanlar Komitesi’nin üçte ikisinin oyunu gerektirmekte. Prosedür başlatıldıktan sonra, dava hukuken bağlayıcı olan karara uyma yükümlülüğü hakkında görüş sunması için Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi’ne geri gönderilir. Mahkeme, Türkiye’nin kararı yerine getirilmediğini doğrularsa, Bakanlar Komitesi Türkiye’nin nihayetinde oy haklarını veya Avrupa Konseyi üyeliğini askıya almaya varan ek önlemler alabilir.
Bakanlar Komitesi, halihazırda Türkiye’nin kararı uygulayıp uygulamadığını birden fazla kez değerlendirerek bu konuda iki karar verdi. Komite bu kararlarında ve Aralık 2020’de verdiği ara kararda Türkiye’yi AİHM’nin Kavala’nın koşulsuz olarak serbest bırakılması kararına uymaya çağırdı.
Ancak Aralık’ta verilen ara karardan bu yana Türkiye’deki yerel mahkemeler Kavala’nın tutukluluğunu dört kez daha uzattı. İstinaf mahkemesi, Gezi Parkı protestoları davasında Kavala hakkında verilen beraat kararını bozdu. Türkiye’nin Anayasa Mahkemesi de Kavala’nın özgürlük hakkının ihlal edilmediğine karar vererek Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi kararını dikkate almamış oldu.
Türkiye İnsan Hakları Davalarına Destek Projesi’nden Helen Duffy, “Kavala davası, Türkiye’de sivil topluma ve hukukun üstünlüğüne yönelik krizin bir simgesidir” dedi. Duffy, “İhlal prosedürünün istisnai olduğunu kabul ediyoruz, ancak bu prosedürün işletilmesini haklı kılacak bir dava varsa, Kavala davası odur. Türkiye hükümeti ve mahkemeleri, Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi’nin Kavala’nın serbest bırakılması kararını ve kararın yerine getirilmesi konusunda Bakanlar Komitesi’nin tekrar eden çağrılarını görmezden gelerek bu krizi ve Osman Kavala’nın haklarının ihlalini sürdürmek ve derinleştirmek için birlikte hareket etmiştir. Türkiye aleyhine işetilecek bir ihlal prosedürü, Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi’nin bağlayıcı kararlarına uymama utancına işaret eden en güçlü yasal mekanizmayı sunmaktadır.” dedi.
Sivil toplum kuruluşları bildirimlerinde, Osman Kavala’ya karşı açılan ceza davaları süresince ilgili hâkim ve savcıların, 2013 İstanbul Gezi Parkı protestolarını düzenlediği ve finanse ettiği, 15 Temmuz 2016 askeri darbe girişimine müdahil olduğu iddialarına dayanarak Kavala’nın tutukluluğunu hukuka aykırı bir şekilde uzatmak için ceza muhakemesi kurallarını kötüye kullandıklarını ifade etti.
Bu çabanın önemli bir yönü, farklı mahkemelerin Kavala’nın üç yıl dört ay boyunca tutukluluğunun sürdürülmesini meşrulaştırmak için ona karşı açılan dava dosyalarını birleştirmesi, ayırması ve tekrar birleştirmesi uygulaması oldu.
Osman Kavala’nın en yakın tarihli yerel mahkeme duruşması olan 5 Şubat 2021’de, İstanbul 36. Ağır Ceza Mahkemesi, Kavala’ya açılan darbe girişimine ilişkin davanın, İstanbul 30. Ağır Ceza Mahkemesi’nde görülen Gezi Parkı protestoları davasıyla birleştirilmesi gerektiğine karar verdi. Birleşen davaların duruşması 21 Mayıs’ta yapılacak.
Sivil toplum kuruluşları, bildirimlerinde Osman Kavala aleyhindeki davaların birleştirilmesi kararının, Türkiye’nin Bakanlar Komitesi önünde Kavala’nın mevcut tutukluluğunun AİHM kararı kapsamında olmayan ayrı bir dava dolayısıyla olduğu argümanını geçersiz kıldığını belirtti. Kuruluşlar ayrıca, Türkiye hükümetinin, Kavala kararını uygulamak için hazırladığı eylem planını gözden geçirerek kararda değerlendirilen yapısal sorunları ele alması gerektiğini ifade etti.
Uluslararası Hukukçular Komisyonu Avrupa ve Orta Asya Direktörü Róisín Pillay, “Davaları ayırmak veya yeniden birleştirmek, Türkiye mahkemelerinin ve hükümetinin üç yıldan fazla süredir Osman Kavala’yı maruz bıraktıkları adaletsizliği düzeltmeyecektir” dedi. Pillay, “Bu dava, bağımsız olmayan Türkiye mahkemelerinin, hükümeti eleştirenlere karşı ceza yasalarını ve ceza muhakemesi usulünü keyfi olarak kullandığı sistematik uygulamanın bir parçasıdır. Eylem planının yargı sistemindeki bu yapısal bozuklukları ele alması gerekiyor.” dedi.
Kavala/Türkiye kararı, AİHM’in Türkiye yargı makamlarının, bir bireyin haklarına müdahale ederken AİHS’in 18. maddesine aykırı olarak, örtülü siyasi amaçlara hizmet ettikleri tespitinde bulunduğu kesinleşme tarihi bakımından ilk karar olması dolayısıyla özel bir önem taşımaktadır.
Mahkeme kararında, Osman Kavala’yı Kasım 2017’den bu yana özgürlüğünden mahrum bırakıp kovuşturmakla, Türk makamlarının “insan hakları savunucusu olan Kavala’yı susturmak yönünde bir örtülü amaç taşıdıklarını” ifade ederekAİHS’in 18. ve 5. maddelerinin ihlal edildiğini tespit etmişti.
İnsan Hakları İzleme Örgütü’nün Türkiye hakkında daha fazla raporu için:
http://www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/turkey
Uluslararası Hukukçular Komisyonu’nun Türkiye hakkındaki diğer faaliyetleri için:
https://www.icj.org/search/?fwp_search=Turkey&submit=Search
Türkiye İnsan Hakları Davalarına Destek Projesi’nin çalışmaları için:
https://www.turkeylitigationsupport.com/
Dec 17, 2020 | News
The ICJ and the Human Rights Joint Platform released today a joint statement, calling attention to a variety of obstacles faced by those seeking access to justice for human rights violations in Turkey.
The statement includes 13 recommendations to the Turkish government to ensure the justice system can uphold human rights.
In Turkey, victims of human rights violations remain unable to access justice, particularly effective remedies and reparation for violations of their rights, and there is little accountability of the State or State authorities for what are often serious violations.
Access to Justice has suffered by the immense damage done to the justice system in Turkey in recent years. The systematic undermining of judicial independence, and of the work of prosecutors and lawyers, through the widespread practice of arbitrary arrest and detention, unfounded prosecutions and dismissals of legal professionals as well as other human rights defenders, have fatally undermined the capacity of the justice system to provide reliable protection for human rights.
The Joint Statement is the fruit of three years of intensive work on access to justice for human rights violations in Turkey by the ICJ and IHOP.
During the last three years, the two organizations had the opportunity to gather the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society, judges, lawyers, prosecutors, government officers, international experts, international organizations, human rights defenders and victims of human rights violations. The conclusions by ICJ and IHOP are a reflection of these opinions.
Drawing on this work and their decades-long experience in access to justice, the ICJ and IHOP have outlined the measures needed to begin to restore effective access to justice in Turkey.
The Joint Statement is part of the REACT project: implemented jointly by ICJ and IHOP, this project seeks to support the role of civil society actors in turkey in ensuring effective access to justice for the protection of human rights. This project is funded by the European Union. The views portrayed here do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the EU.
ICJIHOP-JointStatement-2020-ENG (download the statement in English)
ICJIHOP-JointStatement-2020-TUR (download the statement in Turkish)
Dec 15, 2020 | Agendas, Events
Join ICJ and IHOP in this online conference in which Turkish and international experts will discuss the current challenges in Turkey to promptly and fully implement the judgments of the Court and how to improve the execution of judgments in the Turkish national system.
Turkey is the Council of Europe member state with the third highest number of European Court of Human Rights judgments awaiting execution, after the Russian Federation and Ukraine. As a Party to the European Convention on Human Rights and founding member of the Council of Europe, Turkey has committed to implement all rulings of the Strasbourg Court, yet the results of this commitment are far from clear.
Implementation of the European Court judgments is a key indicator in Europe of a country’s commitment to human rights and the rule of law, and failure to implement judgments fundamentally undermines access to justice for victims of human rights violations by watering down the impact of their litigation before the Court.
Failure to implement judgments through general implementation measures reforming laws, policies and practices, also leads to persistent, repeated violations of the States’ obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. This problem has existed for many years in Turkey, leaving long-standing systemic human rights problems unsolved. Recently civil society has denounced the Turkish authorities’ attempts to circumvent the general application of certain new key rulings of the European Court.
In this conference, Turkish and international experts will discuss the current challenges in Turkey to promptly and fully implement the judgments of the Court and how to improve the execution of judgments in the Turkish national system:
– Justice Egbert Myjer, Former Judge at the European Court of Human Rights and Commissioner of the ICJ,
– Prof. Philip Leach, Professor of Human Rights Law at Middlesex University
– George Stafford, Director at European Implementation Network
– Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey Director, Human Rights Watch
– Kerem Altıparmak, ICJ Legal Consultant
– Ayşe Bingöl Demir, Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project Co-Director, Lawyer
– Prof. Başak Çalı, Professor of International Law, Co-Director of the Centre for Fundamental Rights at the Hertie School
The event will be introduced and moderated by Feray Salman, General Coordinator of the Human Rights Joint Platform (IHOP), Roisin Pillay, Director of the ICJ Europe and Central Asia Programme, and Massimo Frigo, Senior Legal Adviser of the ICJ Europe and Central Asia Programme.<
TO REGISTER WRITE TO: [email protected]
IHOPICJ-ZoomConference-ExecutionECtHRTurkey-Agenda-2020-ENG (download the agenda in English)
IHOPICJ-ZoomConference-ExecutionECtHRTurkey-Agenda-2020-TUR (download the agenda in Turkish)
The event is part of the REACT project: implemented jointly by ICJ and IHOP, this project seeks to support the role of civil society actors in turkey in ensuring effective access to justice for the protection of human rights. This project is funded by the European Union. The views expressed in the event do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the EU.
