The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights found on Monday 11 July that Turkey had violated Article 46 (binding force and execution of judgments) of the European Convention on Human Rights by not releasing dissident Osman Kavala as required by a 2019 judgment.
Monday’s judgment is part of the “failure to fulfil obligations procedure” provided for in Article 46(4) to sanction any State party to the European Convention on Human Rights that fails to comply with the Court’s decisions: after a formal notice from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has not been followed up, the latter refers the case to the Court for a formal decision on the failure to comply and for sanctions.
Since its inclusion in the Convention in 2010, this procedure has only been applied against Azerbaijan in the Mammadov case. Begun in 2017 on the basis of the non-execution of a 2014 judgment, it concluded with the release of the dissident in April 2020, following a Grand Chamber judgment in May 2019.
With regard to the case “Kavala v. Türkiye”, Irish Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Simon Coveney, Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić and Parliamentary Assembly President Tiny Kox welcomed the new judgment “which provides a definitive answer”.
Their Joint Declaration renews their call for the immediate release of the human rights champion who was imprisoned in November 2017, released on 18 February 2020 on the grounds of the 2019 court judgment, but re-arrested the same day and sentenced to life imprisonment last April for “attempted coup”.
Legal summary of the Kavala case: https://aeur.eu/f/2l8 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)