ANKARA: The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday ordered Turkey to immediately release jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas.
In their ruling, the chamber’s judges said the 47-year-old’s human rights had been violated and his pre-trial detention for years served as a cover for narrowing pluralism in the country.
The court found that Turkey had interfered with the freedom of expression of the former leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) by lifting his parliamentary immunity and violated his right to be elected for parliament.
Demirtas, who has been in prison on terror-related charges since November 2016, was a two-time presidential candidate against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and co-chaired the HDP between 2014 and 2018.
He faces 142 years of imprisonment over his political actions during 2014 protests in southeastern provinces of Turkey where he is accused of inciting street demonstrations against the siege of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani by Daesh militants. The protests led to the deaths of 37 civilians.
Europe’s top human rights court also ordered Turkey to pay Demirtas 60,400 euros ($73,540) in damages, costs, and expenses.
“Turkey as a contracting party to the European Convention has undertaken the obligation to implement all rulings of the European Court,” Massimo Frigo, senior international lawyer at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), told Arab News.
“The Demirtas ruling by the court is final and should be executed immediately, including his release as requested by the court,” he said.
According to Frigo, lack of implementation would constitute a fundamental disregard of Turkey’s obligations under the convention and as a member of the Council of Europe.
“The court thus concluded that the reasons put forward by the authorities for the applicant’s pre-trial detention had merely been a cover for an ulterior political purpose, which was a matter of indisputable gravity for democracy,” the chamber said, adding that there was no evidence in the charges for his detention that linked the offenses and his political actions.
When a chamber of the ECHR ruled that Demirtas’ right to a swift trial had been violated, Erdogan committed to making a counter-move against the ruling and an appeals court quickly approved a jail sentence against him over charges of disseminating terror propaganda in 2013 to finalize his conviction.
In several speeches he made recently, Erdogan still referred to Demirtas as “a terrorist having the blood on his hands.”
Since November 2016, Demirtas has been detained at a prison in Edirne, a city bordering Bulgaria and Greece, thousands of miles away from the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir where his family lives.
“Enough lives ruined. Enough pain inflicted. Enough injustice. Release Selahattin,” former European Parliament Turkey rapporteur, Kati Piri tweeted just after the announcement of the ruling.
Nacho Sanchez Amor, the current Turkey rapporteur of the European Parliament, said: “No more excuses for Turkey’s authorities: Respecting rule of law means freeing Demirtas.”
However, human rights lawyer, Erdal Dogan, was pessimistic about any positive move from the Turkish judiciary in that regard.
“I don’t expect any decision to release him. They already opened another trial against him for a second arrest for not being obliged to free Demirtas. However, this ECHR ruling is the utmost confirmation at the international scale that he is imprisoned over baseless charges,” he told Arab News.
In June, Turkey’s Constitutional Court concluded that the right to his personal liberty and security had been violated as his period of arrest exceeded the reasonable duration.
In detention, Demirtas has written three books containing short stories.
Europe’s top human rights court orders immediate Turkish release of jailed Kurdish leader Demirtas
https://arab.news/mk7r5
Europe’s top human rights court orders immediate Turkish release of jailed Kurdish leader Demirtas
- The court found that Turkey had interfered with the freedom of expression of the former leader
UN official calls for Syria support ahead of donor conference
Aid groups have warned of donor fatigue after 13 years of war in Syria
MURIN, Syria: A UN humanitarian official visiting northwest Syria on Tuesday urged the international community to fund crucial aid programs in the war-torn country ahead of an upcoming pledging conference in Brussels.
The Idlib region, Syria’s last main bastion of armed opposition, hosts about three million people, many of whom are displaced from other parts of the country.
Existing financing “is clearly not enough to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people,” said David Carden, UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, from Murin in Idlib province.
Aid groups have warned of donor fatigue after 13 years of war in Syria, with the international community now focused on conflicts elsewhere.
Syria’s humanitarian response plan for 2024 requires more than $4 billion but is only six percent funded, Carden told AFP.
Insufficient resources are also impacting the UN’s ability to truck aid across the border from Türkiye and support those who need it in the county’s northwest.
Ahead of the Brussels conference later this month, Carden said that “we need continued support for the Syria program.”
“We need to do everything we can to ensure that the people in Syria can get back on their feet and start reliving their lives,” he said.
“After 13 years of conflict people are tired of handouts.”
Janne Suvanto of the World Food Programme, who was part of the delegation visiting Idlib, said “the food security situation in northwest Syria is very bad.”
“There are over 600,000 people who are severely food insecure,” he told AFP.
About 90 percent of Syrians live in poverty, according to the United Nations.
Civil war erupted in Syria after President Bashar Assad crushed peaceful anti-government protests in 2011.
The conflict has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions after spiralling into a devastating war involving foreign armies, militias and militants.
225 refugees return to Syria from Lebanon after reassurances it is safe to do so
- Lebanese General Security chief says 330 people were on list of returnees but some decided not to go because they might face legal issues or are wanted by the security forces
- UN Refugee Agency says all refugees have right to return home and ‘we work steadfastly with countries to try to ensure all returns are voluntary and in safety and dignity’
BEIRUT: A total of 225 refugees, including women and children, voluntarily returned to Syria from Lebanon on Tuesday after being assured it was safe for them to do so, as part of a repatriation campaign organized by the Lebanese General Security. Previous operations of the same kind were put on hold in 2020.
The returnees, some of whom were registered with UNHCR, the UN’s Refugee Agency, traveled by land from Wadi Hamid in the town of Arsal and entered Syria through Al-Zamrani and Al-Qaa border crossings. They then headed to the Syrian towns and villages from which they had been displaced by the war, taking with them agricultural equipment and livestock in cars and trucks rented in Arsal.
Their convoy was accompanied in Lebanon by two security teams. The head of the General Security’s Operations Bureau, Brig. Gen. Jamal Jaroush, and the commander of the participating force, Col. Ghayath Zeaiter, worked in coordination with Syrian authorities, which provided security for the convoy after it crossed the border and made its way to villages in Western Qalamoun, Damascus and the surrounding countryside.
“The number of Syrians registered on the General Security lists for return was 330,” Brig. Gen. Mounir Akiki of the General Security told Arab News.
“Since the return is voluntary and not mandatory, and must be safe, we submitted a list of those willing to return to the relevant Syrian authorities and it turned out that some of them have legal claims (against them) or are pursued by the security forces. The refugees were notified of this matter and some of them changed their minds about returning. However, others decided to return despite this and resolve the pending issues on Syrian territory.
“Not all returnees are registered on UNHCR lists. The UNHCR lists that were handed over to the Lebanese General Security include about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, including 706,000 people who were registered after 2015. However, the total number of Syrian refugees is about 2.1 million. In addition to those registered with UNHCR there are Syrians who entered (Lebanon) clandestinely, with no precise figures about them, only estimates, as well as seasonal workers with legal residency.”
Dalal Harb, a spokeswoman for UNHCR, told Arab News: “In Lebanon, UNHCR works very closely with the General Security Office. The GSO is facilitating, on behalf of the Government of Lebanon, the return of Syrians who expressed their wish to return and registered with GSO to do so.
“While the GSO-facilitated return movements are not a UNHCR process, UNHCR is involved and works closely with GSO and others in reaching out to and counseling refugees, when possible, and being present at the departure points prior to their return.”
Asked about the role of the UN agency in encouraging or discouraging the return of Syrians to their home country, and checking whether they were doing so of their own free will, Harb said: “On the day of a GSO-facilitated return movement, UNHCR is present at the different staging points to observe the process and provide on-site assistance to refugees.
“During the last GSO returns, UNHCR spoke to some of the families returning as they were preparing to leave. Many of the families, who confirmed that they would be returning as part of the GSO-facilitated return movement, said they themselves had decided to return. UNHCR did not speak to all individuals returning.
“UNHCR maintains that every refugee has the right to voluntarily return to their country. We work steadfastly with countries to try to ensure all returns are voluntary and in safety and dignity.”
The Lebanese parliament was due to meet on Wednesday to discuss the issue of Syrian refugees. There has been a growing debate in Lebanon of late about their presence in the country amid reports of a rise in crimes linked to refugees, including murders, kidnappings and thefts. This has led to widespread calls among the Lebanese people for the refugees to return home.
Israeli tanks push into Gaza’s Rafah, as battles rage in the north
- Israel’s international allies and aid groups have repeatedly warned against a ground incursion into refugee-packed Rafah
- The World Court said it would hold hearings on Thursday and Friday to discuss a request by South Africa seeking new emergency measures over the Rafah incursion
CAIRO: Israeli tanks forged deeper into eastern Rafah on Tuesday, reaching some residential districts of the southern border city where more than a million people had been sheltering, raising fears of yet further civilian casualties.
Israel’s international allies and aid groups have repeatedly warned against a ground incursion into refugee-packed Rafah, where Israel says four Hamas battalions are holed up.
The World Court, also known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), said it would hold hearings on Thursday and Friday to discuss a request by South Africa seeking new emergency measures over the Rafah incursion, which Qatar says has stalled efforts to reach a ceasefire.
South Africa’s demand is part of a case it brought against Israel accusing it of violating the genocide convention in Gaza, and which Israel has called baseless. Israel will provide its views on the latest petition on Friday, the ICJ said.
Israel has vowed to press on into Rafah even without its allies’ support, saying the operation is necessary to root out remaining Hamas fighters.
“The tanks advanced this morning west of Salahuddin Road into the Brzail and Jneina neighborhoods. They are in the streets inside the built-up area and there are clashes,” one resident told Reuters via a chat app.
Palestinian residents of western Rafah later said they could see smoke billowing above the eastern neighborhoods and hear the sound of explosions following an Israeli bombardment of a cluster of houses.
Hamas’s armed wing said it had destroyed an Israeli troop carrier with an Al-Yassin 105 missile in the eastern Al-Salam district, killing some crew members and wounding others.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to comment on the report.
In a round-up of its activities, the IDF said its forces had eliminated “several armed terrorist” cells in close-quarter fighting on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. In the east of the city, it said it had also destroyed militant cells and a launch post from where missiles were being fired at IDF troops.
’NOWHERE IS SAFE’
Israel issued evacuation orders for people to move from parts of eastern Rafah a week ago, with a second round of orders extending to further zones on Saturday.
They are moving to tracts of land such as Al-Mawasi, a sandy strip bordering the coast that aid agencies say lacks sanitary and other facilities to host an influx of displaced people.
UNRWA, the main United Nations aid agency in Gaza, estimates some 450,000 people have fled Rafah since May 6, warning “nowhere is safe,” in the enclave of 2.3 million.
The war has pushed much of Gaza’s population to the brink of famine, the UN says, and has devastated its medical facilities, where hospitals, if working at all, are running short of fuel to power generators and other essential supplies.
James Smith, a British emergency room doctor volunteering in hospitals in southern Gaza, said he had been told by a World Health Organization official that some emergency fuel had made it into the Gaza Strip, potentially enough for six days.
“Health is still being prioritized over other essential services, so when health looks a bit better it generally means other essential services are struggling,” he told Reuters via a WhatsApp voice note. “It’s a zero-sum game.”
FIERCE GUN BATTLES
Fighting across the Strip has intensified in recent days, including in the north, with the Israeli military heading back into areas where it had claimed to have dismantled Hamas months ago. Israel says the operations are to prevent Hamas, which runs Gaza, from rebuilding it military capacities.
The Palestinian death toll in the war has now surpassed 35,000, according to Gaza health officials, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters. It said that 82 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, the highest death toll in a single day in many weeks.
Israel launched its Gaza operation following a devastating attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas-led gunmen who rampaged through Israeli communities near the enclave, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
In the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City in the north, bulldozers demolished clusters of houses to make a new road for tanks to roll through into the eastern suburb.
In northern Gaza’s Jabalia, a sprawling refugee camp built for displaced Palestinians 75 years ago, residents said Israeli forces were trying to reach as deep as the camp’s local market under heavy tank shelling.
Residents said fierce gunbattles were continuing in Jabalia. Hamas and the armed wing of Islamic Jihad said they were fighting Israeli forces there.
“Many people are being trapped in their houses. We lost contact with some relatives after they were warned by the army in phone calls to leave and they refused,” Nasser, 57, a father of six, told Reuters, using an international phone card.
A strike on a house in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, killed seven people and wounded several others, medics said.
The IDF said it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters in Jabalia and dismantled a network of explosives, while in Zeitoun it located tunnel shafts and destroyed several rocket launchers.
With fighting intensifying, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said ceasefire talks, mediated by his country and Egypt, were at a stalemate.
Palestinian truckers fear for safety after aid convoy for Gaza wrecked
- Footage circulated on social media showed at least one burning truck while other images showed trucks wrecked and stripped of their loads
- “Yesterday there was coordination for 70 trucks of aid to go the Gaza Strip,” said Waseem Al-Jabari, Head of the Hebron Food Trade Association
HEBRON, West Bank: Palestinian hauliers said on Tuesday they feared for the security of aid convoys to Gaza, a day after Israeli protesters wrecked trucks carrying humanitarian supplies bound for the enclave, which is facing a severe hunger crisis.
Footage circulated on social media showed at least one burning truck while other images showed trucks wrecked and stripped of their loads, which lay strewn over the road near Tarqumiya checkpoint outside Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
“Yesterday there was coordination for 70 trucks of aid to go the Gaza Strip,” said Waseem Al-Jabari, Head of the Hebron Food Trade Association.
“While the trucks were uploaded with products at the crossing settlers attacked the trucks and they destroyed the products and set fire in trucks,” he said, saying Israeli soldiers had stood by as the attack took place.
Monday’s incident was claimed by a group calling itself Order 9, which said it had acted to stop supplies reaching Hamas and accusing the Israeli government of giving “gifts” to the Islamist group.
No comment was available from the Israeli military. The Israeli police said the incident, in which a number of people were arrested, was being investigated.
The violent protest drew condemnation from Washington, which has urged Israel to step up deliveries of aid into Gaza to alleviate a growing humanitarian crisis in the enclave, seven months since the start of the war.
British Foreign Minister David Cameron also condemned the “appalling” incident, saying Israel must call the attackers to account.
Palestinians and human rights groups have long accused the Israeli military and police of deliberately failing to intervene when settlers attack Palestinians in the West Bank.
Adel Amer, a member of the West Bank-based hauliers’ union, said around 15 trucks had been damaged by Israeli protesters who beat some drivers and caused about $2 million worth of damage.
“The drivers are now refusing to take goods to Gaza because they’re afraid,” he said. “It’s a disaster here because of the settlers.”
Even when the military was present, the convoys were still at risk, he said. “The army says we cannot do anything to the settlers.”
EU ‘concerned’ by Tunisia arrests
- Tunisian authorities ordered Sunday the arrest of two political commentators over critical comments
- Lawyer Sonia Dahmani was arrested late Saturday after criticizing the state of Tunisia on television
BRUSSELS: The European Union on Tuesday expressed concern over a string of arrests of civil society figures in Tunisia.
Tunisian lawyers on Monday protested and launched a nationwide strike over the arrest of a lawyer and political commentator in a weekend police raid.
Tunisian authorities ordered Sunday the arrest of two political commentators over critical comments, a day after security forces stormed the bar association and took a third pundit into custody.
Lawyer Sonia Dahmani was arrested late Saturday after criticizing the state of Tunisia on television.
“The European Union has followed with concern recent developments in Tunisia, in particular the concomitant arrests of several civil society figures, journalists and political actors,” an EU spokeswoman said.
“Freedoms of expression and association, as well as the independence of the judiciary, are guaranteed by the Tunisian Constitution and constitute the basis of our partnership.”
The clampdown is the latest sign of the authorities tightening control over the country since President Kais Saied began ruling by decree after a sweeping power grab in 2021.
Concern over the situation in Tunisia did not prevent the EU last year from inking a major cooperation deal with the North African state aimed at curbing the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean.
