Legal Review
Kurdish Human Rights Project
Compte d'auteur
The Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) is a UK registered charity committed to the promotion and protection of the human rights of all persons living within the Kurdish regions. Its innovative and strategic approach to international human rights practice, combined with a long-term and consistent presence in the region, enables it to secure redress for survivors of human rights violations and prevent abuse in the future.
Contents
Abbreviations / 17
Relevant Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) / 19
Section 1: Legal Developments and News / 21
Criticism of extreme penalties for stone-throwing children / 23
UN creates single entity to promote women’s empowerment / 23
Annual OSCE, UN and CoE meeting: Gender and Comprehensive Security focus / 23
EU accession to the ECHR / 24
Media freedoms under threat in OSCE States / 24
Lack of human rights progress in Syria / 24
Journalists under pressure from Kurdish Regional Government / 25
Police officers accused of beating and arresting journalist in Turkey / 25
Freedom of expression in Azerbaijan / 26
British Government launches torture inquiry / 26
Ban on burqa-wearing in public / 26
CESCR List of Issues regarding Turkey / 27
Section 2: Articles / 29
The Abyei Arbitration: A Model for Other Situations? / 31
John R. Crook, Professorial Lecturer in Law, George Washington University Law School
The Pilot Judgment Procedure at the European Court of Human Rights: / 41
Possibilities and Challenges
Antoine Buyse, Assistant Professor, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights,
Utrecht University
A. ECHR Case News: Admissibility / 59
Decisions and Communicated Cases
Right to life - Babar Ahmad and Others v United Kingdom (24027/07) Admissibility / 59
Right to fair trial - Adrian Mihai Ionescu v Romania (36659/04) - Admissibility / 61
- Van Anraat v the Netherlands (65389/09) - Admissibility / 63
- Öcalan v Turkey (5980/07) - Inadmissibility / 65
Application concerning a claim for less than 1 Euro - Korolev (II) v Russia (25551/05) - Inadmissibility / 66
B. Substantive ECHR Cases / 68
Right to life - Carabulea v Romania (45661/99) - Judgments / 68
- Fadime and Turan Karabulut v Turkey (2387/04) / 69
- Perişan and Others v Turkey (12336/03) / 71
- Vasil Sashov Petrov v Bulgaria (63106/00) /73
- Shakhabova v Russia (39685/06) / 74
Prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment - Arpat v Turkey (26730/05) - Judgments / 76
- Ahmadpour v Turkey (12717/08) / 78
- Baran and Hun v Turkey (30685/05) / 79
- Biçici v Turkey (30357/05) / 81
- Çelik v Turkey (39326/02) / 82
- Davydov and Others v Ukraine (17674/02) / 84
- Dbouba v Turkey (15916/09) / 85
- Garayev v Azerbaijan (53688/08) / 87
- Lopata v Russia (72250/01) / 89
Right to liberty and security - D.B. v Turkey (33526/08) - Judgment / 90
Right to a fair trial - Hakimi v Belgium (665/08) - Judgments /92
- Karadağ v Turkey (12976/05) / 94
Right to respect for private and family life - Kuric and Others v Slovenia (26868/06) - Judgments / 96
- Turán v Hungary (33068/05) / 97
Freedom of expression - Andreescu v Romania (19452/02) - Judgments / 99
Bingöl v Turkey (36141/04) / 100
Cox v Turkey (2933/03) / 102
Gül and Others v Turkey (4870/02) / 104
Gözel and Özer v Turkey (43453/04 and 31098/05) / 105
Sanoma Uitgevers B.V. v the Netherlands (38224/03) / 106
Sapan v Turkey (44102/04) / 107
Turgay and Others v Turkey (8306/08) / 108
Freedom of assembly and association - Çerikçi v Turkey (33322/07) - Judgment / 109
Right to free elections - Sitaropoulos and Others v Greece (42202/07) - Judgment / 110
Prohibition of discrimination - Aksu v Turkey (4149/04) - Judgment / 111
C. International Cases / 113
International Court of Justice -Accordance with international law of the unilateral declaration of independence in respect of Kosovo (Advisory Opinion of 22 July 2010) - Advisory Opinion / 113
European Court of Justice - E & F (Case 550/09) EU-Terrorism List Declared Invalid (29 June 2010) - Judgments / 115
Court of Appeal of England and Wales - Bisher Al Rawi and Others v The Security Service and Others (2009) EWHC 2959 - Judgment (Closed material procedure – open defence) / 116
Supreme Court of the United States Holder v Humanitarian Law Project (2010) WL 2471055 - Judgment / 117
AbbreviationsCESCR Committee on Economic Social Cultural Rights
CoE Council of Europe
CPCS Commission on the Prosecution of Civil Servants
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists
ECHR European Convention on Human Rights
ECtHR European Court of Human Rights
ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
KHRP Kurdish Human Rights Project
KRG Kurdistan Regional Government
LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
PACE Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
PKK Kurdistan Workers’ Party
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees
Relevant Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights
Article 1: Obligation to respect human rights
Article 2: Right to life
Article 3: Prohibition of torture and ill-treatment
Article 4: Prohibition of slavery and forced labour
Article 5: Right to liberty and security
Article 6: Right to fair trial
Article 7: No punishment without law
Article 8: Right to respect for private and family life
Article 9: Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
Article 10: Freedom of expression
Article 11: Freedom of assembly and association
Article 12: Right to marry
Article 13: Right to an effective remedy
Article 14: Prohibition of discrimination
Article 35: Admissibility criteria
Article 38: Examination of the case and friendly settlement proceedings
Article 41: Just satisfaction to the injured party in the event of a breach of the Convention
Article 43: Referral to the Grand Chamber
Article 44: Final judgments
Protocol No. 1 to the Convention
Article 1: Protection of property
Article 2: Right to education
Article 3: Right to free elections
Protocol No. 4 to the Convention
Article 2: Right to freedom of movement and liberty to choose one’s residence
Protocol No. 6 to the Convention
Article 1: Abolition of the death penalty
Article 2: Death penalty in time of war
Article 3: Prohibition of derogations
Article 4: Prohibition of reservations
(2010) 18 KHRP Legal Review
Protocol No. 7 to the Convention
Article 1: Procedural safeguards relating to expulsion of aliens
Article 2: Right of appeal in criminal matters
Article 3: Compensation for wrongful conviction
Article 4: Right not to be tried or punished twice
Protocol No. 11 to the Convention
Article 19: Establishment of the Court
Article 20: Number of judges
Article 21: Criteria for office
Article 22: Election of judges
Article 23: Terms of office
Protocol No. 12 to the Convention
Article 1: General prohibition of discrimination
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
KHRP would like to thank interns Øystein Block, Indira Bose, Ashley Jordon, Sheena Joshi, Aleksandr Khechumyan, Nana King, Caitlyn Merry, Saoirse Roche, Chloe Wittet and Patricia Yu for their invaluable assistance in the compilation of this review.
The Kurdish Human Rights Project gratefully acknowledges the financial support of:
The Sigrid Rausing Trust (UK), The Corner House (UK), Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands), UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (Switzerland), Bishop’s Subcommission for Misereor (Germany), Stitching Cizera Botan (Netherlands), Matrix Chambers (UK), Garden Court Chambers (UK), The Souter Charitable Trust (UK).
The views expressed are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the KHRP.
Submissions for consideration by the Editorial Board should be sent to:
KHRP Legal Review
Kurdish Human Rights Project
11 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1DH, England
Tel: +44 20 7405 3835
Fax: +44 20 7404 9088
Email: khrp@khrp.org
Communications regarding proposed Articles should be addressed to the Editorial Board at the address above or sent to khrp@khrp.org. Contributors are encouraged to contact the relevant editors regarding drafts or proposed contributions, with abstracts of proposed Articles preferred.
Section 1: Legal Developments and News
Criticism of extreme penalties for stone-throwing children
Earlier this year, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, severely criticised Turkey’s practice of prosecuting minors for participating in alleged terrorist demonstrations in south-east Anatolia, saying the Government’s treatment of children who throw stones violates international standards.
The issue of children being subjected to severe sentences for throwing stones at police forces during demonstrations in south-east Anatolia has been on Turkey’s agenda for some time. Following criticism that children were being tried as adults, the
Government had intended to amend the relevant law to reduce the applicable penalties but had to shelve the bill in the wake of increasing perceived terrorist uprisings and protests in the region.
However, in July 2010, the bill was finally approved, with the new law reducing or waiving jail sentences for young people convicted of throwing stones at police during demonstrations. Although penalties have since been reduced, criticism of penalties towards children and of their access to justice still remains.
UN creates single entity to promote women’s empowerment
The UN General Assembly voted unanimously on 2 July 2010 to create a new entity merging four UN offices focusing on gender equality. The new UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, to be known as UN Women, will merge four existing agencies and offices: UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW); the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues; and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW).
UN Women is the result of years of negotiations among Member States and advocacy by the global women’s movement. Set to become operational in January 2011, it aims to ‘drive the world’s efforts to promote women’s rights’, with an annual budget of at least US$500 million – double the current combined resources of the four entities it will consolidate.
One of its primary responsibilities is to support the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and other inter-governmental bodies in devising policy. The new body is also meant to help Member States implement relevant standards, provide technical and financial support to countries which request it, and forge partnerships with civil society. It will also hold the UN accountable for its own commitments on gender equality.
Annual OSCE, UN and CoE meeting: Gender and Comprehensive Security focus
During a meeting on 14 June 2010 between the OSCE, the Council of Europe (CoE) and the UN, the OSCE Secretary General, Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, confirmed that achieving peace and stability requires the equal inclusion of both women and men. Gender and comprehensive security was the topic of the annual tripartite meeting. The OSCE, the UN and the CoE issued a Joint Communiqué that reaffirmed the vital role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, in peacemaking, and in the promotion of sustainable peace and security.
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Kurdish Human Rights Project
Legal Review
Compte d'auteur
Compte d'auteur
Legal Review
Kurdish Human Rights Project
KHRP
Established 1992
(2010) 18 KHRP LR
KHRP Legal Review
Kurdish Human Rights Project
11 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1DH, England
Tel: +44 20 7405 3835
Fax: +44 20 7404 9088
Email: khrp@khrp.org
Printed in Great Britain
December 2010
Published by the Kurdish Human Rights Project
ISSN 1748-0639
All rights reserved.
