Lawyers to cycle from the Hague to ECtHR for ‘unconditional justice’ in Turkey

Click to read the article in Turkish

On a justice watch in front of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for 42 weeks, urging to "take action" for "unconditional justice", the lawyers in Europe will cycle from the International Criminal Court in the Hague in the Netherlands to the ECtHR in Strasbourg in France.

In order to raise concerns and publicity about the human rights violations in Turkey with a peaceful protest, the lawyers will cycle from the Hague to Strasbourg for 850 kilometers with the motto "Ride for Hope."

Seeds will be sown

With their ride through 15 European cities, lawyers want to raise awareness about a series of issues, such as the people who lost their lives as a result of police violence during the Gezi Resistance of 2013, the arrested MPs and mayors, the people killed in toruture, the Statutory Decrees, the enforced disappeared and abducted people and the ones left for dead in prison.

To keep the memories of these people alive, the lawyers will also sow seeds in 10 cities along their route in the name of the symbolic figures who were subjected to human rights violations in Turkey.

They will try to inspire hope with their wishes for peace and justice so that human rights violations all across the world can end.

Call to the marathon: 'Ride for Hope'

Lawyer Enes Kabadayı, the Spokesperson for the Movement for Unconditional Justice' has told bianet the following about the marathon:

"This solidarity has grown more and more as the weeks have passed; it is this togetherness that makes us more hopeful about the future.

People in Turkey live under political pressure and judicial intimidation, being deprived of their most fundamental rights or being faced with the risk of living as such. The regime is trying to trample upon the opposition regardless of opinions or origins.

"Standing unresponsive in the face of this situation is not something that can be done by an individual who believes in human rights. And we, with this aim in mind, try to tell every institution and person about this systematic evil in Turkey at every opportunity. We have formed a huge team with our friends from several different professions and 9 countries. The support offered to us in waging this struggle increases our sense of responsibility. That is why we are constantly making efforts to develop new projects.

"While our watch is ongoing in front of the ECtHR, we would like to give hope, albeit a little bit, with the 'Unconditional Justice Marathon' by speaking up about the pressure exerted by the regime in Turkey on millions of people, by making the voices of very different groups heard and by showing the common ground for defending human rights. We believe that the more this hope grows, the more this darkness will disappear. The children, youth, women, people of this country were killed, they are still being killed.

"We want to show that we have not forgotten them and that everyone can come together to look hopefully at the future regardless of identities and views. We believe that this call will resonate in the conscience of everyone in some way. We call on all volunteers on our marathon route to take their bikes and join us to 'Ride for Hope' when we go along their cities."

You can fully or partly join the marathon by filling out this form.

The route:

1- 23.09.2021 - The Hague
2- 23.09.2021 - Rotterdam
3- 23.09.2021 - Breda
4- 24.09.2021 - Anvers
5- 24.09.2021 - Brussels
6- 25.09.2021 - Maastricht
7- 26.09.2021 - Aachen
8- 26.09.2021 - Köln
9- 27.09.2021 - Bonn
10- 27.09.2021 - Koblenz
11- 28.09.2021 - Wiesbaden
12- 29.09.2021 - Heidelberg
13- 30.09.2021 - Karlsruhe
14- 30.09.2021 - Baden-Baden
15- 01.10.2021 - Strasbourg

(SO/SD)