Emin Gurban, being held in Kandıra No. 2 F Type Closed Prison, was sentenced to death on 13 June 2001 by the State Security Court (DGM). The decision about Gurban, who has been in prison for 25 years now, was brought before the Supreme Court. The 9th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the decision due to procedural deficiencies. On the date the decision was overturned, the death penalty was abolished and Gurban was given aggravated life imprisonment in the subsequent trial.

 

VIOLATION DECISION FROM ECtHR

 

Gurban's lawyer, Mehmet Erbil, brought the decision, which was upheld by the Supreme Court, to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The ECtHR, in its decision on 15 December 2015, ruled that the decision is in violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which prohibits ill-treatment and torture. However, the decision for PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and prisoners Hayati Kaytan and Civan Boltan, who were held in İmralı F Type High Security Prison, were not fulfilled.

 

Law and rights organizations took action after the decisions made for both Gurban, Öcalan, Kaytan and Boltan were not fulfilled. Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), Society and Legal Studies Foundation (TOHAV), Human Rights Association (İHD) and Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) have applied to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (AK BK), which oversees the decisions made by the ECHR. . 

 

RESPONSE TO GURBAN

 

The committee decided to put the issue on its agenda at the meeting to be held between November 30 and December 2. Turkey made 2 notifications to the Committee regarding its applications within the scope of the “right to hope”. Turkey also made a notification regarding the application made by Gurban's lawyer.

 

In its first notification, Turkey ignored the findings and suggestions regarding “securing the right to hope” and “legal amendments on the regime of the execution of aggravated life sentence”. In its second statement, titled "Action Plan", Turkey stated that Öcalan and other prisoners do not have the right to parole and accepted the "private law" practiced in Imrali. 

 

In its last statement on Gurban, Turkey was content to repeat similar issues by pointing to the “Action Plan” it presented in its second statement.

 

Lawyer Mehmet Erbil evaluated the process after Gurban's arrest, the application made to the Committee and Turkey's response.

 

WHAT IS THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT WAITING FOR?

 

Pointing out that Turkey did not take any steps regarding the violation decision given by the ECtHR, Erbil said, "What needs to be done is to change the legal legislation in line with the ECtHR decisions and to establish a new mechanism for release on probation." Erbil stated that they applied to the upper court after they applied to the Constitutional Court, but received a decision of rejection. Erbil said: "Constitutional Court hasn't decided yet and it is stalling because it can't make a different decision than the ECtHR."

 

GURBAN'S APPLICATION

 

Pointing to the application made for Öcalan, Kaytan, Boltan and his client Gurban, Erbil said, "I also reported the application to the Committee in accordance with Rule 9.1, stating that we did not get any results in our attempts in domestic law, that the Turkish government did not fulfill the requirements of the ECtHR decisions and that the violation continues. The government, in its response to both my application and the application made by non-governmental organizations, on October 29, said, 'It is possible for convicts sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment to benefit from conditional release as a rule, but there were exceptions in some crimes."

 

WHAT AWAITS TURKEY?

 

Erbil stated that Turkey did not say anything about the violation decisions of the ECtHR. Erbil said, “We expect the Committee to issue more serious warnings for the implementation of the ECtHR decisions, taking into account our applications and the government's responses at its first meeting. Otherwise, it is possible for Turkey to face many sanctions, including its removal from the Council of Europe (EC).

 

Erbil also reacted to the Committee for bringing the issue on the agenda after 6 long years.Erbil said: "Because the decisions of the ECtHR must be implemented immediately. I think that the Committee's failure to intervene in a timely manner has caused many grievances and encouraged the Turkish Government not to implement the ECHR decisions."

 

Emphasizing that Turkey is reluctant to implement the ECtHR decisions, Erbil said that violations still continue due to the Committee's failure to intervene in the process in a timely manner. Erbil stated that prisoners in the same situation as his client also face the same violations. Regarding the reason why the violation decision about his client was not fulfilled, Erbil said: "The main reason is Öcalan. Because if the violation decision is fulfilled, this situation will affect Öcalan as well. There is a very serious political pressure about this. They are not implementing the decision to stop Öcalan from benefitting from it."

 

 

MA / Mehmet Aslan