European disciplinary action against Turkey over Kavala prison

Strasbourg-France-Sana

The European Council today launched a disciplinary measure against Turkey for its refusal to release the opposition Osman Kavala in a move that has only been used once in the history of the organization.

AFP quoted the council as saying in a statement that the European Organization's Human Rights Committee agreed to the move after Turkey repeatedly refused to comply with a 2019 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights ordering the release of Kavala.

This comes in light of mounting concern about human rights violations in Turkey, especially after the attempted coup in 2016 against the President of the Turkish regime, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who repeatedly targeted Kavala personally in his speeches.

The Council of Europe said: The Committee considers that Turkey refuses to abide by the court's final ruling regarding the immediate release of the applicant.

The ministerial committee's decision, which requires approval by a two-thirds majority, currently places Turkey under an official memorandum that the European Court of Human Rights will consider its failure to release Kavala, and the court will then decide whether Turkey's failure to implement its decision constitutes a further violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Turkey has a deadline of January 19 to respond, after which the committee will refer the case back to the European Court of Human Rights at its next meeting on February 2.

The Statute of the Council of Europe allows for the suspension of a member state's right to vote in a ministerial committee or even its expulsion as a last punitive measure.