George Clooney joins the Osman Kavala case

The enforcement process for the ruling issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on December 10, 2019, and finalized on July 11, 2022, regarding businessman and human rights activist Osman Kavala, who was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment in the Gezi Park trial, is coming to the agenda of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers once again next week.

The Committee, which will address the issue during its meetings to be held on September 17-19, is expected to review the latest developments in the Kavala file and reach a new decision.

Furthermore, a second judicial process regarding Osman Kavala is beginning at the ECHR.

According to a report by DW Turkish, the Clooney Foundation, founded by George and Amal Clooney, which operates in the field of human rights, is also participating in this process.

A SECOND APPLICATION WAS MADE TO THE ECHR

In addition to his file currently on the Committee of Ministers' agenda, Osman Kavala applied to the ECHR for a second time on January 18, 2024, on the basis that the finalized judicial decision before Turkish courts violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and that the violation ruled by the ECHR continues. The Turkish government is expected to submit its views and defense regarding this second application to Strasbourg in the coming days.

Organizations such as the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, the Freedom of Expression Association, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, and the Clooney Foundation, founded by American actor George Clooney and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, have also applied to the ECHR to intervene in this second case.

THE CASE IS EXPANDING TO AN INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION

The Clooney Foundation's application to intervene has also been accepted by the ECHR. In this context, the foundation will submit an opinion document to the ECHR during the case process.

Supporters of the Clooney Foundation include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, the Versace Foundation, the Smith Family Fund, the American Bar Association, and the International Bar Association.

The intervening organizations will stand with Osman Kavala during the second case process. This can be interpreted as meaning that the second case process will have greater repercussions on an international level. It is not yet known whether the ECHR will hold a hearing in Strasbourg regarding the second case or when the decision will be announced.

Council of Europe bodies and national or international organizations have the right to intervene in cases on the ECHR agenda. The discretion in this matter belongs to the ECHR.

Discussions at the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, which has placed Turkey under a supervision process due to its failure to implement the ECHR's decision, will also continue this week.

'TURKEY COULD BE EXPELLED FROM THE COUNCIL'

During the supervision process, while final talks are being held with Turkey to implement the decision, the steps to be taken if Ankara's resistance continues are also being evaluated. As a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, Turkey is obligated to fulfill ECHR decisions. If Turkey does not implement the decision, it could face sanctions, including expulsion from the Council.

In the position paper he sent to the Committee before the meetings, Kavala's lawyer pointed out that Ankara has so far taken no measures to implement the ECHR's final judgment of July 11, 2022, and requested the initiation of the Complementary Joint Procedure in accordance with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decision on Osman Kavala dated October 12, 2023.

The Complementary Joint Procedure was designed between 2018 and 2020 as a tripartite mechanism consisting of PACE, the Committee of Ministers, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to take measures in cases where member states of the Council of Europe seriously violate their obligations arising from membership.

The procedure primarily aims for dialogue and cooperation with the state concerned. The procedure, which has not been applied to any member state to date, is based on a three-stage plan if it is put into operation.

'A CLEAR TIMETABLE SHOULD BE PRESENTED'

The first stage of the plan envisages high-level contacts with the state concerned.

If these contacts do not yield results, it is envisaged that a roadmap will be prepared by the Council of Europe Secretariat for the state concerned to take concrete measures within a timeframe to be given to it. If this stage also fails to yield results, the deprivation of the representation rights of the state that seriously violates its obligations arising from membership for a certain period and/or its invitation by the Committee of Ministers to withdraw from membership comes to the agenda.

The Committee also has the authority to expel the state concerned from membership if it can secure a sufficient majority within itself.

Kavala's lawyer also wants the Committee of Ministers to call on Ankara to ensure that the ECHR's decisions on Osman Kavala are fully and immediately implemented by the Constitutional Court (AYM) in Turkey and to present a "clear timetable" as to when and how Kavala will be released.

News Source: 12punto