Europe May Turn Back 1930

Europe Human Right Court President Jean-Paul Costas incumbency ends at this month. He has been chairing for 13 years. He talked about future of court, Europe, European Union, economic crisis damages to human rights.
According to Kayhan Karaca, reporter of ntvmsnbc.com, Jean Paul Costa is anxious about Europe future.

"We have two possible script view of geopolitical. First script is disaster. Those events at 1930's may repeat today (In Europe). Very serious economic and social crisis, unemployment, authoritarian regimes capture the competence and war. League of Nations demolishes and the passing from the peace to the war and the passing from international organizations to gunfight. This is the script of disaster. We can think these possibilities will repeat. All conditions are available. But although I think international society will resist despite these conditions and the peace will resist to the war. But the fact that we will live hard conditions is real. Climbing over economic crisis which begin 3 years ago will attend during long years. But I don't think script of disaster is inevitable" Costa said.

Aihm , Article , Case-Law , echr , Economic , Europe , European , European Union , International , law , news , Political

ECHR; President Jean Paul Costa (France)

Born on 3 November 1941 in Tunis
Diploma of the Institute of Political Studies of Paris, 1961
Master of Law, Faculty of Law, Paris, 1962
Diploma of Superior Studies (post-graduate), Public law, 1964
Former pupil of the ENA (Ecole nationale d’administration), 1964-66
Auditeur at the Conseil d’Etat, 1966
Rapporteur at the judicial section of the Council of State, 1966-1971, 1977-80, 1987-89, assessor of sub-section (chamber), judicial section of the Council of State, 1989-93
Directeur du cabinet (political secretary) of the Minister of Education (Alain Savary), 1981-84
Associate professor, Universities of Orléans, 1989-98 and Panthéon-Sorbonne, 1992-98
President of sub-section, judicial section of the Council of State, 1993-98
Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 1 November 1998
President of Section since 1 May 2000
Vice-President of the Court since 1 November 2001
President of the Court since 19 January 2007.

Aihm , Case-Law , echr , European , European Union , France , freedom , International , Protocol , Rights

ECHR judge Corneliu Barsan

ECHR judge Corneliu Barsan said prosecutors who searched his home and confiscated his wife's computer and documents violated the Vienna Convention, which covers both him and his spouse, Gabriela.
But legal advice from the country's top magistrate council said the search was legal as immunity is not granted to judges for their own benefit or to hamper the course of justice. A final vote on the legality of the move will be taken by the magistrates' council on Tuesday.

The vote is set to be closely watched by the European Commission, which has repeatedly criticised the council for being too lenient with misbehaving judges. Romania, as well as Bulgaria, are still being monitored by the EU executive on how they deal with corruption and organised crime. This is also the reason why entry into the border-free Schengen area was delayed indefinitely by the Netherlands and Finland last month.

Gabriela Barsan, who heads the administrative and fiscal litigation department in Romania's top appeals court, is accused - together with a subordinate - of having received jewellery, plane tickets and expensive restaurant dinners in exchange for favourable verdicts. The businessman who allegedly paid the bribes, Gabriel Chiriac, has claimed that he gave them jewellery "out of friendship", Romania Libera newspaper reported.

Case-Law , Cyprus , echr , Economic , European , International , legal , news , Political , Romania

Internet censorship in Turkey (Google)

Important decision for all members of the Council of Europe
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is examining the application against internet censorship filed by Turkish nationals Ahmet Yıldırım and Yaman Akdeniz. The international court expects an item of written comment from Turkey until 9 June.
According to a written statement published by the Cyber-Rights.org.tr news site on 7 March, the ECHR merged the files regarding the access ban to Google sites and to LastFM com on 31 January.

The restrictive decision (No. 2009/337) on the Google services was given by the 2nd Magistrate Criminal Court of Denizli  on 23 June 2009. Access to the music sharing site LastFm.com was banned by the Istanbul Public Chief Prosecution on 26 June 2009 (decision no. 2009/45).
On 16 February, the ECHR posted the particularities of both applications on its website together with a list of questions forwarded to the Turkish authorities.
The court allowed time till 9 June for Turkey to respond to the questions. Cyper Rights org tr reported that the court in Strasbourg announced 24 April as the deadline for non-governmental organizations that applied for co-plaintiff status to submit their point of view.

echr , European , google , news , Turkey

Human rights violations in Turkey

In an annual report released on Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the top judicial body to rule on human rights violations in Europe, found that Turkey is by far the worst violator of human rights among the 47 signatory states of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In statistical data on violation judgments by country for the period between 1959 and 2009, Turkey topped the chart with 18.81 percent of all violation judgments, followed by Italy with 16.57 percent and Russia 6.34 percent. Within this timeframe, 2,295 judgments were entered for Turkey and only in 46 cases did the court find no violations. The most common human rights violation committed by Turkey was the denial of the right to a fair trial. Italy scored second with 2,021 judgments against it.

In 2009 alone, Turkey again topped the list in terms of violations of articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. In a tally of the number of judgments entered for Turkey, 356 cases out of a total of 1,625 put the country in the worst violator class. In only nine cases out of the 356 did the court find there was no violation, while stating that at least one violation occurred in the rest of the cases. Russia followed Turkey in 2009 with 210 judgments against it.

ankara , Case-Law , echr , European , law , Political , Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , Turkey

Debtor Prison in Turkey!

Since the Republic of Turkey was founded, it has experienced Islamic and ethnical conflicts. Right-wing and left-wing conflicts that began in 1970s among the people continued for 20 years and more than ten thousand people died in these conflicts which were experienced in every city, county and even village of the country.

On September 12th, 1980, a military coup seized power, and the oppressive junta arrested tens of thousand people across the country and these conflicts between the people were terminated.

Turkey constructed many prisons to establish its authority in this environment of conflict which had continued for seventy years. There are prisons in every city and county of the country.

In recent years, Turkey has been catching up with developments which took place around the world in the last century. When the world is changing, Turkey takes part in that change. Furthermore, when the world is changing, Turkey experiences that change two times. While it experiences the change in the world, on the other hand it also experiences a capitalization process.

echr , European , International , Political , prison , Protocol , Rights , Turkey

The Hardest Prison in History, Fleet/London

Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.

The prison was built in 1197 off what is now Farringdon Street, on the eastern bank of the Fleet River after which it was named. It came into particular prominence from being used as a place of reception for persons committed by the Star Chamber, and, afterwards, for debtors and persons imprisoned for contempt of court by the Court of Chancery. In 1381, during the Peasants' Revolt, it was deliberately destroyed by Wat Tyler's men.

In 1666, during the Great Fire of London, it was burned down on the third day of the fire, the prisoners fleeing at the last moments. The then-warden of the prison, Sir Jeremy Whichcote, purchased Caron House in Lambeth after the fire to house the prison's debtors while the prison was rebuilt on the original site at his own expense.

During the 18th century, Fleet Prison was mainly used for debtors and bankrupts. It usually contained about 300 prisoners and their families. Some inmates were forced to beg from their cells that overlooked the street, in order to pay for their keep. At that time prisons were profit-making enterprises. Prisoners had to pay for food and lodging. There were fees for turning keys or for taking irons off, and Fleet Prison had the highest fees in England. There was even a grille built into the Farringdon Street prison wall, so that prisoners might beg alms from passers-by. But prisoners did not necessarily have to live within Fleet Prison itself; as long as they paid the keeper to compensate him for loss of earnings, they could take lodgings within a particular area outside the prison walls called the "Liberty of the Fleet" or the "Rules of the Fleet". From 1613 on, there were also many clandestine Fleet Marriages.

Article , bankrupts , echr , Economic , England , European , International , London , National Geographic , Political , Social

Erdogan discusses missile plans with Obama

A G-20 summit in Seoul offered Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the opportunity to once more express Ankara’s reservations about NATO’s planned anti-missile system during a bilateral meeting with US President Barack Obama.

Erdoğan responded affirmatively when asked on Friday whether NATO’s US-backed plans were on the agenda of his talks with Obama. “We conveyed our sensitivities to him,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency while speaking to reporters at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel in southern Seoul after the summit closed. The two-day G-20 meeting was attended by a total of 33 global leaders.

The meeting between Erdoğan and Obama came only days ahead of the NATO Lisbon summit on Nov. 19-20, at which time a decision regarding the controversial missile defense system will be made.

Turkey is demanding that within NATO's strategic concept document there should be no references to any specific country as a threat and that the legitimization of the missile system should be made in general terms.

ankara , Article , Convention , echr , Economic , European , International , Obama , Political , Protocol , Turkey , United States

World Trade Center and Turkish Flag

A recent episode of famous American animated TV show “South Park” featured an image of terrorist attacks being carried out by al Qaeda aircraft bearing Turkish flags, drawing complaints from Turks for an apparent attempt to link the terrorist group and Turkey.

The plot of the episode, titled “Jersey Things,” jokingly posited that New Jersey’s inhabitants were slowly expanding and taking over a greater portion of the United States. Following a zombie-like siege of the small town of South Park, Colorado, the town’s inhabitants fight back against “the tanned, sleeveless hordes.” One of the show’s characters then decides that the solution to the Jersey “problem” is to request help from the elusive al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. After bin Laden agrees, suicide bombers crash into South Park’s Jersey population with planes that bear Turkish flags.

The “South Park” episode comes shortly after a similar but unrelated move by the Christian Action Network, a US based right wing organization, which recently produced a documentary on Sept. 11 featuring a Turkish flag flying among the debris of the World Trade Center on the film’s promotional poster. The documentary, which was filmed in response to proposals to build an Islamic center and a mosque near Ground Zero, the site where the World Trade Center had stood, is titled “Sacrificed Survivors: The Untold Story of the Ground Zero Mega Mosque.

echr , European , Osama bin Laden , Pakistan , Saudi Arabia , Syria , Turkey , United States

Tears in Akhtamar Surp Cross Church..

The ceremony made on 19th September for the first time after 95 years in Surp Cross Church in Akhtamar Island was made without a Cross.

Turkish goverment which gave permit for making a ceremony for once in the historical cathedral does not deem the cathedral as a worship place. It wants to show itself to the West as a country which has religious tolerance, to accelerate the acceptance process for European Union and to attract more tourists to the location, by using the cathedral as a tool for its political and economical objectives.

On one side, Turkish government smiles at the outer world and on the other side it makes inquiries for the purpose of determining whether there are families in Van who offer Armenian pilgrims to host them at their home and continues to launch formal investigations about those families it has detected.
And beyond everything, Ankara likes to see Armenians in conflict with eachother.
I don’t want to enter into details of that matter, but I want to share an approach bearing the Armenian spirit.

Anatolia , ankara , Article , echr , Economic , European , European Union , International , journalists , Mayr Dacar , news , Political , Social

ECHR: Turkish State Liable in Hrant Dink Murder

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said Tuesday it has ruled that the Turkish state failed to protect the life of Hrant Dink, a Armenian journalist who was murdered in early 2007.

In a statement released in Strasbourg, the court also said it found that the Turkish state had failed to protect Dink's freedom of expression prior to his murder.

Dink had initially filed a case with the ECHR himself, after he was convicted of "insulting Turkishness" for a column he wrote in Agos, the Armenian Turkish newspaper he edited.

After his murder, the journalist's family launched another case before the court, accusing Turkish authorities of taking insufficient measures to protect Dink's life.

The two cases were eventually merged. In its ruling, the court sentenced the Turkish state to pay 105,000 euros (135,000 dollars) to Dink's family in compensation and an extra 28,595 euros to the court for expenditures.

The outspoken Dink was shot three times in the head on the sidewalk in front of Agos in January 2007. His accused murderer, Ogun Samast, was 17 years old at the time of the shooting. Samast is currently on trial for the murder.

Article , case , Case-Law , cases , echr , Economic , European , freedom , German , Human rights , law , national , news , Political , Social , Strasbourg , Turkey

Militant Democracy and Religious in Europe.

Patrick Macklem of the University of Toronto has posted Guarding the Perimeter: Militant Democracy and Religious Freedom in Europe' on SSRN. It covers the case law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the religion state nexus.

This is the abstract: This essay tracks the concept of militant democracy in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, where it has migrated from a principle that authorizes a state to act in a militant manner to preserve democratic processes to one that entitles a state to establish perimeters and guard against threats of a different kind.

Militant democracy now authorizes a state to assume a militant stance toward the exercise of religious freedom that threatens substantive conceptions of democracy instantiated in its constitutional order. The essay identifies four substantive conceptions of democracy liberal democracy,  secular democracy, republican democracy and conservative democracy  to which militant democracy has migrated in recent years.

against , Articles , echr , European , International , national , news , principle , Religion

Armenian, American lawyers sue Turkey

The suit alleges breach of statutory trust, unjust enrichment, human rights violations and violations of international law.

Armenian-American lawyers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the Turkish government and two banks seeking compensation for the heirs of Armenians whose property was allegedly seized nearly a century ago as they were driven from the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

Lawyers were seeking class-action status for the suit, a process that attorney Brian Kabatek said could take as long as three years. “We are rolling up our sleeves and are going forward,”
he said.

against , Attorney , businesses , Case-Law , echr , Economic , empire , European , Human rights , International , law , Los Angeles , national , news , ottoman , Political , Turkey , United States

Gay Marriage ECHR

European nations do not have to allow same-sex marriage, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Friday. Seven judges at the European court ruled unanimously that two Austrian men denied permission to wed were not covered by the guarantee of the right to marry enshrined in Europe's human rights convention. The judges acknowledged "an emerging European consensus" that same-sex couples should have legal recognition but said individual states may still decide what form it should take because marriage had "deep-rooted social and cultural connotations which may differ largely from one society to another."

Court legalizes assisted suicide
Germany's top criminal court, the Federal Court of Justice, issued a landmark ruling Friday legalizing assisted suicide in cases where it is carried out based on a patient's prior request. The ruling came as the court overturned the conviction of a lawyer who had counseled his client in 2007 to stop tube feeding her mother, who had been in a nonresponsive coma for five years. A lower court had convicted attorney Wolfgang Putz of attempted manslaughter and given him a nine-month suspended sentence. German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger welcomed the ruling as a major step toward respecting an individual's wishes.

U.S. scoffs at war damages claim
The Obama administration ridiculed North Korea on Friday for claiming $65 trillion from the United States in Korean War damages, saying the communist nation is an economic "basket case" due its own failed policies. Marking the 60th anniversary of the start of the conflict, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said North Korea had no one but itself to blame for its isolation and the misery of its people.

South Korea: A South Korean official said Friday that North Korea has banned boats off its west coast, a possible indication the country may hold an artillery drill or missile tests.

Jerusalem: Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Hamas militants of violating rules of war and "cruel and inhuman" treatment for not letting captive Israeli Sgt. Gilad Schalit contact his family and the Red Cross.

Iran: Hossein Sheikholeslam, head of the Iranian agency that supports Palestinians, said the Sunday departure of an Iranian ship carrying aid to the Gaza Strip has been canceled as a result of Israel's vow to prevent vessels from Iran and Lebanon from reaching the Palestinian enclave.

Paris: Frenchman Francois Cousteix, whose online name was Hacker Croll, was convicted of infiltrating Twitter and peeping at the account of President Barack Obama. He received a five-month suspended prison sentence.

Egypt: Thousand of Egyptians, joined by opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, protested what they said was authorities' systematic use of torture in the alleged beating death of a young man by police this month.

Singapore: Swiss Oliver Fricker, 32, was sentenced to three strokes of a cane and five months in prison Friday for breaking into a train depot and spray-painting graffiti on a subway car. Vandalism in Singapore carries a mandatory three to eight strokes of a cane.

Article , Case-Law , echr , European , Gay Marriage , International , national , news , Political , Social

Religious Expression

On July 17, despite the lack of any evidence of a specific threat to public order, the rights of others, or the secular status of France’s public institutions, the European Court of Human Rights upheld a French law that prohibits the wearing of conspicuous symbols of religious affiliation in government run schools. The dismissal by the European Court of Human Rights of the claims of the affected students as inadmissible reflects the ongoing dilemma European nations and public authorities face in trying to properly calibrate their response to possible threats posed to democracy by religious extremism.

Article , Case-Law , echr , European , France , International , law , legal , national , news , Political , Protocol , Religion , Social

Migration and asylum problems

Two projects supported by the European Union are inaugurated on 11 March 2010 at the Headquarters of the Turkish National Police in Ankara. The projects are the first elements of broader parallel programmes aiming at (1) supporting Turkey’s capacity in combating irregular migration through the establishment of removal centres and (2) establishing a system of reception, screening and accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees.

The European Union is funding € 2.4 million for these two projects which are complementing a larger intervention of Turkey and European Union aiming to construct reception centres and removal centres throughout the country. Each of these centres is designed to host 750 persons and the total value of this investment in reaching € 80 million. These centres will increase the hosting capacity of Turkey considerably and thereby contribute to the ongoing efforts of the Government to establish a system for effective management of asylum and migration.
These twinning projects implemented by officials from the UK, the Netherlands and Greece will, in particular, develop guidelines on how these centres are to be well managed and provide training to staff that will work there. The projects will also develop recommendations for legislative and administrative measures so as to align Turkish legislation and practices with those of the EU.

ankara , Case-Law , echr , European , European Union , International , news , Persons , Turkey

Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian GenocideResolution

CONGRESS
Calling upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. KIRK, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. WATSON, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. WU, Mr. SIRES, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. WEINER, Mr. HONDA, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. WALZ, Mr. PETERS, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. COSTA, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. WOLF, Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. HIMES, Mr. BACA, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. FATTAH, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. SPACE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. POLIS of Colorado, Mr. LANCE, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. OLVER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. TITUS, Mr. STARK, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. TSONGAS, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. DREIER, Mr. NUNES, Mr. TONKO, and Mr. TIERNEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

Case-Law , echr , European , International , news , Political , Protocol , Turkey , United States

Swedish parliament approved Armenia genocide

Swedish parliament approved on Thursday a resolution that brands the World War One deaths of Anatolian Armenians as genocide.
The resolution including recognition of Armenian allegations was approved with 131 votes against 130. Foreign Relations Commission of the Swedish Parliament discussed the resolution on March 2.
Parliamentarians from the leftist Social Democrat Party, Left Party and Environment Party, who were in favor of the resolution, said the incidents that had occurred in the last years of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 were genocide defending that Turkey had to face its history and admit it.

Some parliamentarians of the rightist parties opposed the resolution saying Swedish Parliament was not an international court.

Armenia , Case-Law , echr , European , International , national , news , Protocol , Rights , Swedish , Turkey

Youtube Ban

The Internet Technology Association (INETD) applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), objecting to the decision to block youtube.com in Turkey. Access has been banned to the global video sharing site for 19 months now since 5 May 2008.

INETD president Mustafa Akgül announced that INETD filed the complaint "on behalf of the ones harmed by the ban and on behalf of the entire country". Akgül claimed that the ban is "against the law and contrary to the public interest".

against , ankara , Case-Law , Convention , echr , European , news , Social , Turkey

University Students

The students had organized a protest action against the bill in 2004. The ECHR decreed yesterday (8 December) that the violent intervention of the police was "an attack against the freedom of association". The court ruled for a violation of article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of assembly and association).

ECHR: Compensation for "humiliating" treatment

The ECHR based its decision for compensation payment on article 3 of the convention, which bans "humiliating treatment". Only disclosing the surnames of the complainants, the ECHR ruled the payment of € 2,000 each for Aytaş, Gok and Metin, € 3000 each for Karatepe, Kurtuluş, Aslan, Ersoy and Bülbül and € 5,000 each for Ocak and Ozan. The ECHR pronounced that the confirmation of the violation was sufficient to recover the applicants' losses, there was no separate decision concerning further compensation claims for this particular reason.

Case-Law , echr , European , news , Rights , Social , Turkey