The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) will evaluate whether Turkey has taken steps to ensure the "right to hope" of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, Hayati Kaytan, Civan Boltan and Emin Gurban at its Human Rights Meeting, which will end on 17 September. After the three-day meeting, the Committee is expected to adopt an interim resolution on Turkey. 

 

On 18 March 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the sentencing of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan to aggravated life imprisonment without the right to conditional release (right to hope) violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which prohibits torture. The ECHR issued similar judgements for prisoners Hayati Kaytan, Emin Gurban and Civan Boltan. However, Turkey has not taken any steps to eliminate the violation despite the 11 years that have passed.

 

Abdullah Öcalan's lawyers, national and international rights and legal organisations have, on various occasions, petitioned the Committee to include the "right to hope" on its agenda and to issue resolutions that would force Turkey to take steps. The Committee included the "right to hope" on its agenda for the first time in 2015. In 2021, it put it on its agenda and gave Turkey one year to make the necessary legal arrangements. While Turkey did not take any steps during this period, the Committee last put the "right to hope" back on its agenda in 2024 under the title "Gurban group/Turkey". 

 

WHAT DECISIONS DID THE COMMITTEE TAKE AT ITS LAST MEETING?

 

Representatives of the Committee recalled the ECtHR's violation judgements on aggravated life imprisonment. The representatives implicitly referred to the "exemption" of names in the group in question (including Abdullah Öcalan) from the judgement of violation. The judgement emphasised that the representatives "(...) recalled that such a finding of violation cannot be understood as giving the applicants the possibility of imminent release, but requires the national authorities to establish a review mechanism for all in line with the standards set by the Court". 

 

In the section "Regarding general measures" of the decision, 4 items were listed: 

 

"* Recalled once again that the implementation of these judgments requires legislative or other appropriate measures to be taken to establish a mechanism to review aggravated life sentences after a specified minimum period and to offer the possibility of release, except where the conditions of retribution and deterrence have not yet been fully met or the person is still a danger to society

 

* Expressed deep concern at the lack of progress to this end and strongly encouraged the authorities to take the necessary measures without further delay, inspired by the experience of other Member States in putting such mechanisms in place

 

* Once again invited the authorities to provide information on the number of persons sentenced to irrevocable life imprisonment and still in detention without the possibility of review

 

* Decided to re-examine this group (the Gurban group) at its meeting in September 2025 and, in view of the long persistence of the problems examined under this group and the insufficiency of the progress made with the information available, instructed the Secretariat to draft an interim resolution if no concrete progress had been made by that date that would allow for a more favourable assessment."

 

MA / Diren Yurtsever