Continued detention of six members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly belonging to the DEP Party

Doc. 9899

12 September 2003

Continued detention of six members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly belonging to the DEP Party

Written Question No. 426 to the Chair of the Committee of Ministers

Reply from the Chair of the Committee of Ministers

I. Written Question No. 426 by Mr Jurgens (Doc. 9776)

Considering Assembly Resolution 1030 (1994) on the arrest and detention of six members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, belonging to the DEP Party,

Welcoming the new trial granted by Turkey to former Kurdish parliamentarians in response to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 17 July 2001 which found the original trial to be unfair (Sadak, Zana, Dilce and Dogan judgment),

Regretting nonetheless that the execution of the original prison sentence imposed in the unfair proceedings has not been suspended and that the applicants therefore remain in prison,

Noting furthermore that according to the current legislation, the reopening of domestic proceedings in cases where the Court of Human Rights has found a violation is not possible for judgments which become final after 4 February 2003,

Mr Jurgens

To ask the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers

If the Committee does not consider that to comply with the European Court judgment Turkey must suspend the execution of the unfairly imposed prison sentences in the Sadak and Zana case awaiting the new fair trial, and

If the Committee deems it acceptable that the new Turkish legislation allowing the reopening of domestic proceedings is inapplicable to European Court of Human Rights judgments becoming final after 4 February 2003.

II. Reply by the Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers

With regard to the first part of the question, as the honorable member is aware, the Committee has also expressed its satisfaction at the fact that the four applicants have been granted a new trial.

At the same time, the Committee has noted that successive requests to suspend the execution of the original prison sentence have been rejected by the State Security Court notwithstanding the fact that the applicants continue to suffer the consequences of the violations found, i.e. imprisonment on the basis of an unfair trial. This situation has given rise to calls for further measures to put an end to all negative effects for the applicants of the violations found.

The Turkish delegation has indicated that these concerns will be conveyed to the competent authorities. It has also recalled that the question of suspension of the original sentence lies within the competence of the State Security Court. The Committee will resume consideration of this case at its meeting on 7-8 October 2003 in the light of the responses to be given by the Turkish authorities.

As regards the second part of the question, the Chair recalls that this issue has already been addressed in the Committee's reply to the Parliamentary Assembly's Recommendation 1576(2002). Having noted that the scope of the new law would not extend to the cases which were pending before the Court at the time of its entry into force (4 February 2003), the Committee has indicated that it trusts that steps will rapidly be taken to modify this situation.