TÜRKİYE ORTA ASYA HABER KKUORDİNATÖRÜ

EUROPEAN UNION Türkiye REPORT Justice Suspended: Access to Justice and the State of Emergency in Turkey Composed of 60 eminent judges and lawyers from all regions of the world, the International Commission of Jurists promotes and protects human rights through the Rule of Law, by using its Unique legal expertise to develop and strengthen national and international justice systems. Established in 1952 and active on the five continents, the ICJ aims to ensure the progressive development and effective implementation of international human rights and international humanitarian law; secure the realization of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights; safeguard the separation of powers; and guarantee the independence of the judiciary and legal profession ® Justice Suspended: Access to Justice and the State of Emergency in Turkey © Copyright International Commission of Jurists, 2018 The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) permits free reproduction of extracts from any of its publications provided that due acknowledgment is given and a copy of the publication carrying the extract is sent to its headquarters at the following address: International Commission of Jurists P.O. Box 91 Rue des Bains 33 geneva Switzerland This publication has been co-funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the European Union. the Views portrayed in this document do not necessarily reflect their opinion. Justice Suspended: Access to Justice and the State of Emergency in Turkey 1 Since 16 July 2016, Turkey has been living under state of emergency. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that he will not seek a renewal of the state of emergency that will otherwise lapse on 19 July. Two years under a state of emergency have nevertheless had a devastating impact on the human rights of vast numbers of persons in the country. Hundreds of thousands of civil servants, judges, military personnel, and academics have been dismissed from their jobs; thousands of people have been arrested, investigated, tried and convicted; hundreds of associations have been closed and key State institutions, under legislative, executive and judicial authority, have has been radically overhauled. Many of these changes are there to stay and, even Now that the state of emergency is over, the question remains of what remedies can people access for human rights violated in this last two years. Human rights are illusory if there is no effective remedy to access to protect them, or to provide redress where they have been violated. It is through it justice and accountability mechanisms, in particular the judicial systems, that corrective action takes place to bring the State in compliance with the rule of law. This is even more the case in times of public emergency. Indeed, “the role of the judiciary and legal profession is paramount in safeguarding human rights and the Rule of Law in times of crisis, including declared states of emergency."1 It is essential that these mechanisms of protection be independent and effective at all times This report will provide an overall assessment of the impact that the state of emergency and the reforms undertaken have had on the capacity of people in Turkey to access effective legal remedies for human rights violations. 1 ICJ Geneva Declaration on Upholding the Rule of Law of Judges and Lawyers in Times of Crisis of 2008, Principle 1 (hereinafter "ICJ Geneva Declaration"). See, ICJ Legal Commentary to the ICJ Geneva Declaration on Upholding the Rule of Law of Judges and Lawyers in Times of Crisis, ICJ Human Rights and Rule of Law Series No. 3, Geneva, 2011, available at https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ICJ-genevadeclaration-publication-2011.pdf, pp. 1-15. 2 1. General context2 On the night of 15 July 2016, elements of the Turkish army attempted to overthrow the democratically elected government. They blocked the bridges on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, bombed the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, seized control of several media outlets and reportedly attempted to kill President Erdogan.3 The attempted military coup was ultimately unsuccessful, partly due to the mobilization of civilians including police officials that blocked the advance of army movements By the morning of 16 July 2016, the attempted coup was over. that night ended with 246 people dead and more than 2,500 wounded.4 The “Gulen movement”, a religious-based organization led by US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, and designated as a terrorist organization by the Turkish authorities, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Gulf Cooperation Council,5 and the Asian Parliamentary Assembly6 , under the name of Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO/PDY),7 was accused by the Government to be behind the attempted coup. 8 In reaction to the attempted coup, the Council of Ministers, under the chairmanship of President Erdoğan, declared, on 21 July, a nation-wide state of emergency that was rated by the Grand National A