An international firm recovers a "historical" model for the prosecution of Turkey



In 1966, the Nobel Prize-winning British philosopher, Russell , organized a special court referred to as the International crime Court and later because the "Russell Court", during a symbolic pursuit of justice.


The French philosopher, Sartre and variety of judges and intellectuals participated within the trial, the aim of which was to realize and evaluate American policy and military intervention in Vietnam.

54 years after this initiative, a world firm recovers that have to illuminate human rights cases in Turkey.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News Arabia, Johann Hemmans, speaking on behalf of the Belgium-based Van Steinbergen, said his office had received many requests for legal assistance from Turkish citizens living abroad to think about what they said were serious human rights violations that included torture and kidnapping.

what's the issue?


Johann Himans records a crucial achievement for his office after the Human Rights Council on June 12, 2020 made a "courageous decision" regarding a lawsuit filed by the office in 2017 against the Turkish government.

The charges included the kidnapping of two Turkish citizens from Malaysia and forcibly bringing them to Turkey, where they were detained and tortured, while the 2 men were teachers who had lived for years in Kuala Lumpur .

The Human Rights Council decided after considering the facts, that Turkey should release them and compensate them after violating their rights for years, to avoid this happening again within the future, and therefore the decision visited the extent that he saw that there's not a rule of law in Turkey.

However, as long as the authority of the Human Rights Council is moral, Turkey has ignored it. On the contrary, after fortnight of the choice , we were convicted of longer sentences and still in prison.

The lawyer who focuses on human rights cases adds: "When we saw the amount of complaints and therefore the way during which the Human Rights Council is addressed , we decided to determine what we called the 'Turkey Court' to be held in Geneva on the 22nd of next September" and thus the Human Rights Council decision led to a natural development Towards the choice to determine the court.

In response to an issue about the complainants and whether or not they were individuals, parties or institutions, Johann Himans said they're relations of the detainees, which the 2 persons he defends have lived for years in Malaysia and members of their families sleep in Europe.


Elite of lawmen

And on behalf of the court, says Johan Vandelanot, a former minister who also served as deputy prime minister in Belgium and worked on the establishment of the court, that it's mainly considering a period of roughly 5 years; that's , since the start of 2016 and after the top of negotiations between the govt and therefore the refore the PKK and the coup attempt in 2016, reliable reports about violations revolve around 6 issues, namely torture, impunity when torture occurs, medical assistance for detainees in prison, legal aid for detainees, and kidnapping , And freedom of the press.

As for cases like the occupation of lands in Syria or Iraq, they're not currently within the jurisdiction of the court.

Vandelanot added that the kidnappings in Malaysia occurred quite once. In August 2019, people from Malaysia were kidnapped by the Turkish authorities, and another kidnapping case was recorded in other countries, including Ukraine.

While operations are usually hooked in to countries, governments, or prime ministers of nations that allow Turkey to try to to so on their lands.

Although some cases are controversial, similar attempts are registered in European countries and are under investigation by the general public prosecutor in Switzerland, for instance , where the authorities are investigating whether Turkish diplomats planned to kidnap a Turkish businessman.

The Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed that a criminal case was filed on suspicion of collecting intelligence and initiating actions prohibited by a far off country, and therefore the investigation of the case began in 2017.

What does the "Turkey Court" look like?

"We start on September 22, for every week ," court coordinator Johan Vandelanot said, explaining "3 and a half days to submit 6 reports, and there'll be a witness in each report giving half-hour of testimony; in total we've 18 witnesses, then the six judges sit on Friday morning." To issue their decision within the afternoon and therefore the decision are going to be published, and it'll give the chance to the Turkish government that we communicate with to reply and provides them the ground if they need to. "

"We had our first contact with them a month ago, but they weren't enthusiastic. Once the choice is formed , any reaction from the Turkish government are going to be published transparently, and every one hearings are going to be broadcast live and these sessions are going to be on the firm website for follow-up |

Who are the judges?

The former minister and court coordinator, Johan Vandelanot, says it took 8 months to collect the judges, explaining that they were from Belgium, South Africa , the us , Switzerland, Albania, and Australia; they're among the simplest in human rights.

As for the financing, Vandelanot says that it's not enough and he's still trying to get the funding, and therefore the court has obtained through donations an amount of 200 thousand euros and no shareholder is allowed to pay quite 5 thousand euros to preserve the independence of the court’s decision and its impartiality.

On the question of whether or not they are able to do so regarding other countries, Vandelanot said, "For the court to succeed then we see," it's an ethical issue, stressing that his partners will do anything to guard human rights.

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