Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic handed over her seat to Irishman Michael O’Flaherty on April 1. Bosnian Mijatovic served as the Human Rights Commissioner, one of the most important bodies of the Council of Europe, for 6 years.
Mijatovic, whose 6-year term expired in April, served in the midst of a crisis marked by the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine, and in a difficult period when democracy and respect for human rights were declining in all member states. Mijatovic, who strives to be effective in a wide range of human rights, preferred to look the other way, despite the decisions of the United Nations and the ECHR, when it came to the people who were subjected to serious human rights violations after July 15 in Turkey.
While Mijatović has worked on various human rights issues, she has been criticized for overlooking gross violations against Gulen Movement members in Turkey after the controversial coup d’état of July 15th. Despite resolutions from the UN and the ECtHR, she has not taken significant action in this regard.
At a time when human rights, the rule of law and democracy are being eroded even in “Western countries”, the public paid more attention to every statement from Mijatovic. Although Mijatovic managed to become visible in the media with her work, her performance was not found sufficient. The complaints about her ignoring one group in particular never stopped. This group failed to take part in Mijatovic’s speeches and works. They couldn’t even reach her when they wanted to tell her about the violations they were subjected to.
This group, which the commissioner ignores, consists of members of the Gülen Movement, who were declared terrorists by the Erdoğan regime without any evidence after the 2016 coup attempt, or people who are assumed to be “connected or affiliated” with the movement.
Speaking to TR724, human rights lawyer Ali Yıldız pointed out that Turkey constantly displayed a disturbing hesitation regarding human rights violations during Mijatovic’s term of office. He said that Mijatovic put forward an attitude that was diametrically opposed to the stance of the previous Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muznieks.
The timidity mentioned by Yıldız can also be observed when Mijatovic’s works on Turkey are examined. While the Commissioner conducted 17 studies related to Turkey, only one of them included the decree laws and the grievances that occurred after July 15.
While 6 of the 17 studies were about the release of Osman Kavala, the remaining 11 studies addressed various human rights issues. While the sensitivity of the Commissioner, who knows Turkey very well and follows it closely, regarding Kavala was appreciated, her failure to show the same effort for the hundreds of thousands of oppressed people drew reaction. Only the 2019 Turkey report touched upon the conviction of people affiliated or alleged to be affiliated with the Hizmet Movement, who were subjected to witch hunts, in violation of the basic principles of law.
Former diplomat and human rights lawyer Hakan Kaplankaya stated that Mijatovic was insufficient to fulfill her responsibilities arising from her duty.
Kaplankaya said that ECHR decisions may come late, but in the gap between the violation and the court decisions, the Commissioner should step in and make the necessary contacts and explanations to prevent violations, but Mijatovic could not fill this gap.
Answering TR724’s questions, Kaplankaya pointed out that the previous Commissioner Muznieks showed an important reflex by publishing a report in 2016, when the events were still hot, but although the violations increased over the years, Mijatovic, who took over the task in 2018, did not do enough to address mass grievances.
Lawlessness has been registered with international decisions
After July 15, 2016, the only way for people who were subjected to social genocide to make their voices heard and seek their rights was international institutions and courts.
After 15 July 2016, over 120,000 people were dismissed from their jobs with the decree-laws and nearly 100,000 of them were sent to prison. These people, who together with their families number more than a million, were excluded from social life and demonised by propaganda.
Sick people were left to die in prisons, mothers were sent to prison with their babies. As families were torn apart, it became impossible for people labelled as “terrorists” by the state to find a job.
As Commissioner Mijatović pointed out in her 2019 report, the judiciary lost its independence and impartiality after 15 July, falling under the control of politics. Neither the Court of Cassation nor the Constitutional Court put a stop to injustices. The only way for those who were subjected to witch-hunts to make their voices heard and claim their rights was through international organisations and courts.
Their applications were answered, albeit belatedly, and very important judgements were issued by the United Nations and the European Court of Human Rights.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled in 2020 that the unlawful operations against the Gülen Movement by the Erdogan regime could constitute crimes against humanity.
Although the ECtHR’s judgements came too late, it concluded that the post-15 July trials, from initial detention to the charges used as grounds for sentencing, violated the most basic principles of law and violated the rights of thousands of applicants.
Most recently, in the case of Yalçınkaya v. Turkey, the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR, which evaluated a teacher’s appeal against his dismissal from the public sector and his conviction for membership of an armed terrorist organisation, warned in its September 2023 judgment that there was a systemic problem in the post-15 July trials.
Emphasising that there are more than 100,000 cases like Yalçınkaya’s case, the ECtHR stated that the law must be restored and that no one can be punished before the elements of a crime (actus reus, mens rea, concurrence)are established.
Lawyer Hakan Kaplankaya emphasised that there has never been a violation judgment at this level in the recent history of the ECtHR and of Europe.
However, neither the United Nations’ nor the ECtHR’s decision was enough to mobilise Mijatović.
The applications were answered, albeit late; Very important decisions were made by the United Nations and the European Court of Human Rights. In its decision in 2020, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions said that the unlawful operations carried out by the Erdogan regime against the Gulen Movement could constitute a crime against humanity.
The ECHR also announced its Yalçınkaya decision, which scrapped the community trials in Turkey in 2023. Lawyer Hakan Kaplankaya emphasized that there has never been a violation decision of this level in the recent history of Europe and stated that it was recorded as one of the biggest decisions in the history of the ECHR. However, neither the decision of the United Nations nor the ECHR was enough to motivate Mijatovic.
For Mijatovic, who presented a third party opinion before the ECHR in the Kavala and Wikipedia cases, the Yalçınkaya case, which was important in proving that hundreds of thousands of people were convicted in violation of the most basic principles of law, was not of sufficient importance. Mijatovic, who did not take an active role before the case, preferred to act as if the Grand Chamber’s Yalçınkaya decision did not exist.
Lawyer Ali Yıldız, who publishes internationally on Turkey’s human rights violations, said, “As emphasized by the European Court of Human Rights, this decision will potentially affect 100 thousand cases. “It is worrying that there is no mention of the Grand Chamber’s landmark Yalçınkaya decision in the Commissioner’s 2023 Activity Report,” he said.
Another indication that Mijatovic ignored the Yalçınkaya decision is the memorandum he published about Turkey on March 5, 2024, less than a month before the end of his term. Although the 14-page memorandum attracted great attention on social media, it did not contain any new information.
In its social media post, the Brussels-based Arrested Lawyers Initiative pointed out that not examining the “landmark Yalçınkaya decision” in the memorandum was a major deficiency. The initiative stated that the Yalçınkaya decision should be included in the memorandum because it protects rights related to freedom of expression and also freedom of association within the scope of the use of encrypted messaging applications.
The commissioner also ignored the victims who came to his door and the thousands of people who stood in solidarity with the victims. The protests organized by Peaceful Actions Platform brought the voices of hundreds of thousands of victims of the witch hunt in Turkey after July 15 to Strasbourg.
Experts hope that the Commissioner’s replacement will end the turning of a blind eye towards members of the Gülen Movement who have collectively suffered injustice and inequity.