Request to the ICC to investigate the human rights violations of Turkey
The International Criminal Court (ICC) received a communication with the request to investigate the crimes against humanity by the Turkish authorities. The communication filed to the ICC was prepared by lawyers from the Belgian law firm Van Steenbrugge Advocaten (VSA), the Turkey Tribunal and the European Judges for Democracy and Liberty (MEDEL). The Turkey tribunal is an international people’s tribunal that was established two years ago. Former Belgian deputy prime minister and human rights law professor Johan Vande Lanotte coordinated a group of legal experts to establish the tribunal. In september 2021 the initiative published a compilation of reports about the crimes of the Turkish state.
The communication to the ICC, which is confidential for the security of the victims, contains documents, reports, testimonies of witnesses and statistics about the human rights violation of more than 200.000 people by the Turkish government. The victims are being accused by the Turkish state to have an affiliation with the Gülen movement, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or with other leftist organizations. According to the submission, tens of thousands were exposed to human rights violence in several ways, such as torture, abduction and false imprisonment. Turkey is not a signatory of the Rome Statute, which is the treaty that governs the ICC; however, it has jurisdiction over the offences of Turkey, for the numerous crimes are carried out in countries who are ICC member states.
On the first day of March the Turkey Tribunal held a press conference in The Hague for the publicity of the submssion of the communication. At the conference, which was postponed due to the major earthquake, jurists and victims gave an explanation why the ICC should launch an investigation. Vande Lanotte stated that the crimes of the Turkish government were causing a social death and that the impunity should be halted. The lawyer, who considered the crimes absurd, exemplified the extent of the situation: “Even people who have visited the graves of the opponents of the system were prosecuted.”
The request will be examined by the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, who will also decide whether an investigation against the Turkish authorities will be initiated. As the ICC has no authority to judge states, institutions or companies, it will be up to the court which individuals will be held responsible for the violations. Vande Lanotte emphasized that the report includes sufficient elements to identify who the responsibles are.