The PLATFORM FOR AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY IN TURKEY,

which is composed of the four
European judges associations
Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ)
European Association of Judges (EAJ)
Judges for Judges
Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés (MEDEL)
CONSIDERING that Turkey had suffered a terrible attack against its democratic institutions on
15.7.2016 which killed almost three hundreds of its people and left much more seriously wounded,
an event which has to be strongly condemned
UNDERLINING that those whose involvement in this coup d’état have been proved should be hold
accountable
WELCOMING the fact that all political parties and the Turkish people have delivered a strong
statement for democracy
REMINDING that a basic pillar of democracy is the rule of law and a commitment to the safeguarding
of human rights, enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights (EHCR), to which Turkey is a
party,
AFFIRMING the fact that every emergency law and likewise the suspension of the European
Convention of Human Rights according to Article 15 have their limits regarding the extent of the
measures in so far as all restrictions have to be kept as narrow as it is absolutely necessary due to
the extraordinary situation
STRONGLY INSISTING that fundamental procedural principles have to be followed even in
extraordinary circumstances like the right to access to a lawyer, like the necessity that there is at
least a concrete suspicion of an involvement in a crime etc.
HINTING AT the universal accepted fundamental principle that even those who have committed a
crime have an indispensible right of a fair trial
Notices that
Ø thousands of judges and prosecutors have been arrested and dismissed without an adequate
procedure,
Ø their property has been seized
Ø that very often the evidence to be member of a terroristic organisation seems to be very
weak and that the Turkish law regarding terroristic organisation is much too far-reaching
with international standards and therefore often criticised by the international institutions
Ø that there are many claims about the situation in the detention centres which include
assertions of torture
appeals to the Turkish authorities:
Ø to end the state of emergency and re-establish the procedural guarantees of a fair trial and
immediately stop all non-derogable rights violations as provided in Article 15 of the European
Convention on Human Rights and any measures derogating disproportionately to the obligations of
the Convention
Ø to adopt the legislation on fighting terrorism to international standards
Ø to respect the independence of the judiciary and stop influencing courts and especially the
High Council of Judges and Prosecutors
Ø restore the property of judges and prosecutors and their families , which was seized under
the emergency decree
Ø guarantee that the European Prison Rules (CM Rec(2006)2 ) are obeyed in all detention
centres and to held accountable those who have violated them
Ø annul the dissolution of the only independent judges association YARSAV
urges all European authorities in particular all bodies of the Council of Europe and the European
Union
Ø to convince and to support Turkey in fulfilling the claims, which were enumerated above
Ø to requests Turkey to meet its obligation under Article 15 para 3 of the ECHR
Ø to remind the Turkish government to follow its obligation under the Turkish constitution
Ø to establish a commission of independent experts to examine the current situation in Turkey
regarding fundamental rights and esepcially if the measures taken by the emergency decree
follow the principle of proportionality, which is an underlying element of Article 15 of the
ECHR, a commission in which the platform is prepared to participate
Ø to entrust observers to follow the criminal procedures against Turkish judges and
prosecutors
Ø to ask the European Committee for Prevention of Torture to examine every individual
assertion of torture and the circumstances of every suicide of judges and prosecutors in the
detention , especially the reported death of Seyfettin Yigit, who was found hanged on
September, 16h.