Dec 16, 2018 | Agendas, Events
Today begins in Ankara (Turkey) a two-day international workshop for lawyers and CSO practitioners representing and working with migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers.
This event is organized by ICJ, in cooperation with its partners Refugee Rights Turkey, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), Mülteci-Der (MD) and ICJ-EI, as part of the EU co-financed project Fostering Access to Rights for Migrants, Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Turkey.
Lawyers and civil society practitioners – representing numerous bar associations and relevant organisations from the Istanbul area and other nearby key migration and asylum locations – are taking part in the workshop that takes place on 16-17 December.
The international conference on “Legal avenues and the role of lawyers in protecting migrant and refugee rights” includes a section on strategic litigation on asylum and migration law and European experiences.
In the second part of the conference, a final workshop is held on 17 December to discuss efforts to support expertise and effectiveness of Turkish lawyers on asylum and immigration law. This workshop will bring together key stakeholders and interlocutors to strategize about the remaining gaps and needs and the next steps in this field.
During this workshop, the organisers will present their project and its results.
The project “Fostering Access to Rights for Migrants, Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Turkey” is funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) of the European Union.
Turkey-Workshop-Agenda-MigrationAsylumIHRL-Ankara2-2018-eng (download the agenda in English)
Turkey-Workshop-Agenda-MigrationAsylumIHRL-Ankara2-2018-tur (download the agenda in Turkish)
Dec 15, 2018 | Agendas, Events
Today begins in Ankara (Turkey) a one-day workshop for lawyers and CSO practitioners on the use and strategies of UPR mechanisms.
This event is organized by ICJ, in cooperation with its partners Kapasite Geliştirme Derneği and Human Rights Joint Platform, as part a/the EU co-financed project Rebuilding and Ensuring Access to justice with civil society in Turkey.
20 lawyers and civil society practitioners are taking part in the workshop on 15 December in Ankara.
The workshop aims at discussing the functioning of the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council in which all States undergo periodically a peer-review of their human rights situation by other States. Turkey is set for its third cycle of examination in 2019
The main thematic areas to be discussed will be access to justice in Turkey, the situation of the judiciary and the rule of law, and the protection of womens’ rights.
The project is funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) of the European Union.
Turkey-Training-Agenda-UPR-Ankara-2018-tur (download the agenda in Turkish)
Turkey-Training-Agenda-UPR-Ankara-2018-eng (download the agenda in English)
Nov 14, 2018 | Advocacy, Cases, Legal submissions
The ICJ intervened today before the European Court of Human Rights in the cases of a judge and a scholar that were arrested in the wake of the state of emergency in Turkey.
Mr Hakan Baş is a judge who was dismissed and arrested under emergency legislation following the attempted coup of 15 July 2016.
Mr Seyit Ali Ablak is a teacher and was arrested in 2017 also during the state of emergency declared following the attempted coup.
They claim, among others, the violation of their right to a judicial review of detention under articles 5.3 and 5.4 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In this intervention, the ICJ addressed the following issues:
- the international legal and normative framework on the independence of the judiciary and the role of judges, in particular in implementation of obligations under articles 5.3 and 5.4 ECHR;
- the current situation of the independence, governance and administration of the judiciary in Turkey, with particular regard to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors and the role of the peace judges, and their conformity with State obligations under articles 5.3 and 5.4 ECHR. The situation will be assessed with reference to the findings of an ICJ mission undertaken in May 2018 and contained in the mission report Justice Suspended.
Turkey-icj-Bas-Advocacy-legal submission-2018-ENG (download the intervention in Baş v. Turkey)
Turkey-icj-Ablak-Advocacy-legal submission-2018-ENG (download the intervention in Ablak v. Turkey)
Nov 2, 2018 | Advocacy, Cases, Legal submissions
The ICJ intervened today before the European Court of Human Rights in the case of a detained Member of the Turkish Parliament from the HDP party, Ms Burcu Çelik, arrested in 2017 under “terrorism charges”.
In this submission, the ICJ provides the Court with observations concerning the capacity of the Turkish legal system to provide effective remedies for violations under the ECHR with regard to detention, in particular detention of Members of Parliament, in light of its Convention obligations, in particular obligations under Article 5.4.
The ICJ presents its analysis of these aspects of the Turkish legal system based, in part, on information ascertained during a mission to Turkey undertaken in May 2018 and in its report Justice Suspended.
Specifically, the ICJ addresses the question as to whether the remedies of individual application before the Constitutional Court (CC) and under article 141.1 (a) and (d) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) may be considered as effective in light of the State’s obligations under articles 5.4 and 35.1 ECHR.
Turkey-icj-Celik-Advocacy-legal submission-2018-ENG (download the intervention)
Oct 24, 2018 | News
The three finalists who will compete for this prestigious award given to human rights defenders having shown deep commitment and facing great personal risk are: Eren Keskin (Turkey), Marino Córdoba Berrio (Colombia) and Abdul Aziz Muhamat (Papua New Guinea/Australia). The ICJ is member of the MEA Jury.
The finalists were selected by the International Human Rights Community (members of the jury are the ICJ, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, International Federation for Human Rights, World Organisation Against Torture, Front Line Defenders, EWDE Germany, International Service for Human Rights and HURIDOCS).
Nominees and laureates of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) are human rights defenders that have demonstrated a deep commitment to human rights, often working under threat of imprisonment, torture, or worse.
The international recognition provided by the Award, on top of raising their profile and their work, often provides significant protection.
The 2019 Martin Ennals Award will be presented on 13 February 2019 at a ceremony hosted by the City of Geneva, which for many years has strongly supported the Award.
Eren Keskin (Turkey)
Eren Keskin (upper left corner of the picture) is a lawyer and human rights activist.
For more than thirty years, she has struggled for fundamental rights and freedoms in Turkey, especially for the Kurds, women and the LGBTI+ community.
Within the context of the worsening human rights situation in Turkey, Keskin is once again at the centre of intimidation attempts.
As part of a solidarity campaign to support the Özgür Gündem newspaper, Keskin held the title of “editor-in-chief” of the newspaper from 2013 to 2016, when it was closed by the authorities.
On 30 March 2018, she was convicted and sentenced to 12.5 years in jail for having published articles deemed to have “degraded” the Turkish nation and “insulted” the Turkish president.
She is currently free while the case is appealed.
She said: “To defend human rights is not easy in our territory. I am being prosecuted with 143 charges for my solidarity with an opposition newspaper in the context of freedom of expression. International awards and solidarity have “protective” characteristics and reassure those of us in repressive societies. It also it gives us a morale boost and helps our motivation for the struggle. Thank you for not forgetting us. Your solidarity and protection mean so much.”
Marino Córdoba Berrio (Colombia)
A member of the Afro-Colombian ethnic group, Marino Córdoba Berrio (bottom left corner of the picture) led his community as they faced the loss of their land to powerful commercial interests, notably in logging and mining.
After successfully working towards the legal recognition of their community’s land rights, much of his community was driven out by force in 1996.
Constant threats and attacks drove him to seek asylum in the United States in 2002 where he built a network of supporters.
He returned to Colombia in 2012 and worked to ensure a role for ethnic communities in the peace agreement, notably as a member of “Ethnic Commission for Peace and the Defense of Territorial Rights ” that provides input as the peace agreement is implemented.
He has regularly received death threats and is under constant armed guard.
He said: “We have historically been excluded politically, socially and economically, also affected by war, providing measures of overcoming is a primary responsibility of the State. I believe in the power of my mind and my hands as a determinant to do what is right, therefore the justice that is applied to my people is crucial for their survival. It is also in our hands to promote those changes so this effort involves exposing my own life.”
Abdul Aziz Muhamat (Papua New Guinea/Australia)
Abdul Aziz Muhamat (Aziz, on the right-hand side of the picture), from Sudan, is a compelling and tireless advocate for refugee rights.
Seeking asylum, he has been held in Australian immigration detention on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea since October 2013, when his boat was intercepted by the Australian authorities.
Aziz has seen friends die. He has been shot at by local police. He was also sent to a local prison for refusing to eat in protest at the cruelty and suffering being inflicted on others.
Aziz is one of the primary public voices among the men held on Manus Island. Despite the isolated location, he has exposed the harsh conditions there through podcasts and media interviews.
He has paid a price for this as he is seen as a “ring leader” by both the PNG and Australian authorities.
He stated: “My work to expose this cruel system helps preserve my self-respect and inherent human dignity. It helps me fight for the rights of every refugee around the universe, which I’ll do until my last breath. It is not always easy when living under conditions of fear and persecution. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery, courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state and I will do everything to keep going.”
Contact
Olivier van Bogaert, Director Media & Communications, ICJ representative in the MEA Jury, t: +41 22 979 38 08 ; e: olivier.vanbogaert(a)icj.org
Michael Khambatta, Director, Martin Ennals Foundation, t: +41 79 474 8208 ; e: khambatta(a)martinennalsaward.org
TUR-Eren Keskin_Bio-News-2018-ENG (Eren Keskin full bio in PDF)
COL-Marino Cordoba Bio-News-2018-ENG (Marino Córdoba Berrio full bio in PDF)
AUS-Abdul Aziz Muhamat Bio-News-2018-ENG (Abdul Aziz Muhamat full bio in PDF)
