Human Rights Defenders Demanding Justice Have Once Again Been Persecuted by the Judiciary Upon the Ruling of the Court of Cassation!
29 September 2023
Human rights defenders who demand justice not only for the country but for the whole world have been persecuted by the judiciary as the Court of Cassation upheld the prison sentences handed down to Osman Kavala, Can Atalay, Çiğdem Mater, Tayfun Kahraman and Mine Özerden in the Gezi Trial yesterday. Not only our friends who defend human beings, the environment and nature, but also everyone who is responsible for preventing rights violations and the destruction of nature and the environment are being punished, and the capacity of citizens to make independent decisions about the world they live in as well as the will of citizens is targeted for elimination with this unacceptable decision, which is completely against reason, conscience and law itself.
Yesterday, as the Court of Cassation upheld the prison sentences handed down to Osman Kavala, Can Atalay, Çiğdem Mater, Tayfun Kahraman and Mine Özerden in the Gezi Trial, which we know from the beginning to be a political revenge case through the judiciary, is a declaration that the judiciary in Turkey is now functioning only as a political punishment mechanism and has abandoned all legal grounds.
Human rights defenders who demand justice for the country we live in and the whole world have once again been persecuted by the judiciary upon this unacceptable upholding ruling. With the awareness that the essence of defending human rights is the capacity to see injustice, we will be adamant to defend justice against the injustice set by this ruling. We will not give up speaking out against such severe criminalization of objection to and speaking out against cases of injustice nor will we give up our responsibility to voice cases of injustice and unfairness.
Not only our friends who defend human beings, the environment and nature, but also everyone who is responsible for preventing rights violations and the destruction of nature and the environment are being punished, and the capacity of citizens to make independent decisions about the world they live in as well as the will of citizens is targeted for elimination with this unacceptable decision, which is completely against reason, conscience and law itself.
Nevertheless, our urgent duty and responsibility now is not to allow such an environment of unlawfulness and oppression to overtake us. We must not remain indifferent and silent in the face of such injustice inflicted on society. On the contrary, we must insist on defending the principles of human rights and democracy, and insist on the politics of rights.
As organizations that have been struggling for years for the protection of respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, we condemn and reject this decision in the strongest terms. We would like to remind the political power once again that it is obliged to protect human rights defenders in accordance with all provisions of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. In addition, we call on the political power to immediately put an end to the pressure on the judiciary and to comply with the Constitution and international conventions, in particular the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the ECtHR judgments in accordance with its obligations arising in this context.
Defending rights cannot be punished.
Stop oppression and judicial harassment of rights defenders without delay!
Human Rights Association – Human Rights Foundation of Turkey