WHO WE ARE?

We are young lawyers who have been subject to political pressure through the judiciary in Turkey. As lawyers who come from different ideologies, different geographies, and different backgrounds yet who are united around a common vision of the future, we are human rights defenders who want to take action together against a repressive regime that has been keeping different segments of society under intense pressure regardless of their ethnic origin or political opinion.

WHY WE TAKE ACTION?

Turkey has been going through a period in which fundamental rights and freedoms, especially “prohibition of torture, right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, and freedom of expression”, have been severely violated. The political regime has been on course to destroy the rule of law at full speed. Through judicial ingenuity, it has been systematically carrying out a policy of intimidation against any person or group who has confronted it. Due to the current situation of the judiciary in Turkey, there is no possibility that domestic legal remedies will be effective. Trials are only carried out as a theatrical production. Courtrooms have become theatre scenes where the play is performed, and judges and prosecutors have become extras of this play. The Constitutional Court (CC) gives decisions contrary to judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and local courts do not implement the CC decisions. 184 judgments of the ECtHR remain pending full implementation. The ECtHR is the ultimate authority of solution to Turkey’s judicial crisis that emerged under a regime that does not consider monetary compensations as a deterrent.