Former members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), recently closed down by the Constitutional Court, have filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights in which they argue that the Constitutional Court is not impartial since it was established by a constitution drafted by the military junta that took over the government on Sept. 12, 1980.

Former DTP and current Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Şırnak Deputy Hasip Kaplan submitted the petition to the court yesterday, the pro-Kurdish Fırat news agency reported.

The lawsuit comprises three complaints, one of which will be filed in the name of the corporate personality of the party while the remaining two will concern Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk, two former DTP deputies whom the Constitutional Court banned from politics.

The Constitutional Court decided to close the DTP and ban 37 of its members from politics, including DTP leader Türk and DTP deputy Tuğluk, on Dec. 11 of last year. The court deemed the party guilty of engaging in ethnic separatism and having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The petition filed by former DTP members stresses that the Constitutional Court cannot be impartial as it is a remnant of the Sept. 12 coup. “This is in clear violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the right to a fair trial,” the petition reads.

After Kaplan submitted the 78-page petition to the Strasbourg court, he convened a press conference at the European Parliament building. Kaplan once again reiterated the DTP’s arguments opposing the closure. Arguing that the Constitutional Court did not allow the DTP access to certain documents during the trial process, he said a report prepared by the Constitutional Court rapporteur was not given to the DTP and that this violates the right to a fair trial, enshrined in the convention. Other arguments of the former DTP are as follows:

According to the petition, Article 10 of the convention concerning freedom of expression was violated. Other arguments of the former DTP members are that the closure decision violates Article 11 of the convention, which addresses freedom of organization; the closure decision is an act of discrimination against Kurds; Article 14 of the convention prohibits discrimination; the closure decision violates the defendants’ property rights; and the closure decision violates the defendants’ right to free elections, which is in breach of Article 3 of the Supplementary Protocol to the convention.

Previously, the European court has ruled in all lawsuits concerning party closures filed against the Republic of Turkey, excluding the closure of the Welfare Party (RP), that the right to freely organize was violated.

The Venice Commission, to which the Council of Europe refers when it comes to constitutional matters, prepared a document last year about party closures in Turkey, claiming that the Turkish Constitution’s provisions about party closures are not in line with the European Convention on Human Rights and the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.

21 January 2010, Thursday
TODAY’S ZAMAN