Source: Today’s Zaman

Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg stated in İstanbul on Friday that he was “shocked” by the court’s decision to acquit all 19 suspects of membership in a terrorist organization in the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Only one suspect received a life sentence.

The İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court hearing issued its ruling earlier this week in the 25th hearing of the case. Primary suspects Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel and all other suspects were cleared of charges of membership in a terrorist organization in the murder of Dink, who was shot dead outside the office of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos on Jan. 19, 2007.

Hammarberg, during a discussion on the newly released Turkish translation of his “Human Rights in Europe” report, echoed the surprise of the Turkish public in the wake of Tuesday’s verdict. “I was very surprised by the court’s ruling on Tuesday. I was even more surprised to hear the prosecutor and judge in the case were also dissatisfied with the outcome,” the commissioner said.
The Dink case’s presiding judge, Rüstem Eryılmaz, told the Vatan daily on Thursday that, while he personally cannot deny the murder was well-organized, the evidence submitted to the court was not sufficient to issue such a ruling.

“Then why did they close the case? I am surprised a judge could say this and close the case. He [Eryılmaz] could have won more time by asking for clarification,” Hammarberg said.

In his report on human rights shortcomings across Europe, Hammarberg mentions Dink along with other journalists who were murdered in Europe for simply doing their jobs. According to the report, which was published before this week’s verdict, “No effort must be spared in apprehending and bringing to justice not only the actual killers, but also those who ordered these murders.”
More than 40,000 people took to the streets on Wednesday to commemorate the death of Agos’ former editor-in-chief and one of Turkey’s great whistleblowers. Hammarberg joined the march from İstanbul’s Taksim Square to the office where Dink died. “I was there for the march and saw the demonstrations. It was all very impressive, not only because of the number of people but also because the majority of people there were ordinary Turks,” he said. Calling the marches a “signal” that there is a lack of trust in Turkish authorities, Hammarberg argued that people clearly demonstrated they do not accept the court ruling.

“The Dink murder verdict is absolutely a test case,” noted Hammarberg, saying it is crucial that everyone involved in the murder and cover-up must be identified and prosecuted. If not, the gap between the public at large and the government will continue to widen, as in countries around Europe, he argued. One of the grossest human rights violation in the opinion of the point man of the CoE’s Human Rights Commission is the number of detainees across Europe Hammarberg is convinced are innocent.

“I am convinced there are a number of innocent people in prisons in Europe. I make visits to these prisons regularly not only to check that the walls are painted and the food is good, but also to talk with and listen to the imprisoned people there. And I must say the cases against a number of them are very thin,” he said.

Many of the detainees he has met with have not yet seen the courtroom. “In some countries, more than half of those in prisons are pre-trial detainees,” Hammarberg said.

But Hammarberg, concluding the event on a positive note, explained why he remains hopeful about the expansion of human rights in Turkey.

“There are so many problems and shortcomings, yes. But the way we should respond is to put concrete demands in front of those who make the decisions,” the human rights commissioner said.
Giving a historical perspective to the global human rights struggle, Hammarberg recalled the United Nation’s progressive drafting and implementation in 1948 of the first universal declaration of human rights. “This document easily could have been shelved, but it became the starting point for a global movement,” he said. If the UN declaration was a spark, Hammarberg stressed it was civil society that fueled their governments to change.

“The question is: do we have the desire and energy to build on that historic document and momentum? When you talk with people, they do want human rights not just for themselves but others as well. We have active civil society groups, and this is the basis for optimism,” he said.

Hammarberg made a call for the continued enhancement of human rights around the world. “After all, what is life about if people are not fairly treated, don’t have the right to speak and don’t enjoy decent standards of living?”