The EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) penned a letter to the President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), CoE country representatives, the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), and permanent representatives regarding the denial of the ‘Right to Hope’ in the context of Turkey. The next meeting of the committee monitoring the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will take place from September 16 to 18.
The EUTCC letter signed by Chairperson Prof. Kariane Westrheim reads as follows:
“Following the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in March 2014, which ruled that life sentences without the possibility of release violate Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibiting inhuman or degrading treatment, you referred at your meeting in September 2024 to the obligation to implement this judgement.
In a new action plan submitted to your Committee, Turkey announced that it will not grant the “right to hope” to prisoners sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, including Abdullah Öcalan.
This is highly problematic and unacceptable. Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe and an accession candidate to the European Union. It is obliged to implement the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights.
As no concrete progress has been achieved in implementation of the ECtHR judgment, we call on the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to take immediate action in accordance with the decisions of its meeting in September 2024 to ensure that Turkey fulfils its obligation without any delay.
The implementation of the legal principle of hope is not only necessary with regard to the individual rights of Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, but also regarding peace-building measures in the context of the dialogue between the Turkish state and Abdullah Öcalan for a political solution to the Kurdish question and thus the democratisation of the country.”
The EUTCC has organised annual international conferences in the European Parliament since 2004, focusing on the Kurdish question and democratic processes in Turkey, supported by political groups in the European Parliament.