Turkey Human Rights Foundation (TİHV/HRFT) and Human Rights Association (İHD) have condemned the decision to uphold the sentences for Osman Kavala, Can Atalay, Çiğdem Mater, Tayfun Kahraman, and Mine Özerden in the Gezi Park trial by the Court of Cassation.
In a joint written statement released today, TİHV and İHD characterized the decision as an "announcement that the judiciary in Turkey has now only functioned as a political punishment mechanism and abandoned all its legal grounds."
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"We must not remain indifferent to injustice"
"We must not remain indifferent to injustice," they stated, emphasizing that this verdict was not just about those tried in the Gezi case but targeted anyone taking responsibility against human rights violations and environmental destruction.
"The capacity of citizens to make independent decisions about their living environments is being attempted to be abolished. In contrast, our urgent duty and responsibility now are not allowing such lawlessness and an atmosphere of oppression to overcome us. In the face of this injustice imposed on society, we should not remain silent. Instead, we must persist in upholding human rights and democratic principles, advocating for justice."
“Criminalization of dissent”
With an awareness that defending human rights fundamentally involves the ability to perceive injustice, TİHV and İHD declared their determination to continue advocating for justice in the face of this decision. They reaffirmed their commitment to objecting to the criminalization of dissent and not wavering in their responsibility to speak out against injustice.
"Comply with the Constitution"
TİHV and İHD reminded that, according to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the state is obliged to protect human rights defenders:
"We call for an immediate end to the pressure exerted by the political power over the judiciary and urge adherence to the Constitution, international treaties, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Human rights advocacy cannot be criminalized. The pressure and judicial harassment against human rights defenders must cease immediately." (AS/VK)
