Resolution 2518 (2023)1Provisional version

Call for the immediate release of Osman Kavala

Parliamentary Assembly

1. The Parliamentary Assembly recalls that Osman Kavala, a human rights defender and philanthropist,has been detained in Türkiye since 18 October 2017, charged with three different offences in an alternatingmanner which led to his continuous detention. He was initially detained on charges of having sought tooverthrow the constitutional order and the government through force and violence in relation to the 2013 GeziPark demonstrations and the 2016 attempted coup. Osman Kavala was subsequently acquitted in a domesticjudgment of 18 February 2020. This did not lead to his release. Instead, the Council of Judges andProsecutors initiated a preliminary investigation to consider taking disciplinary action against the three judgeswho acquitted Osman Kavala, and the prosecution appealed his acquittal. On 25 April 2022, the first instancecourt convicted Mr Kavala for attempting to overthrow the government by force with respect to the Gezi Parkevents only, and sentenced him to aggravated life imprisonment. The charges in respect of the attemptedcoup were not part of his conviction. He was also acquitted of additional charges relating to espionage, whichhad been added since his initial detention. On 28 December 2022, the Istanbul Regional Court of Appealrejected Mr Kavala’s appeal against the conviction and sentence and on 28 September 2023, the Court ofCassation rejected his further appeal, meaning that his conviction and aggravated life sentence are now final.

2. Throughout the process, the prosecution’s reasoning has been based on Mr Kavala meeting with thethen Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, with members of the European Parliament,diplomats and journalists, assisting individuals to file applications before the European Court of Human Rights(“the Court”), knowing members of civil society in Türkiye and internationally, having peacefully participated indemonstrations, and other work to further human rights causes, such as supporting people in exercising theirright to freedom of expression, association and assembly. None of these elements shows criminal conduct;indeed these are all activities that fall within the classic role of a human rights defender, and many, if not all, of[them] involve the ordinary exercise of the rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights(ETS No. 5, “the Convention”).

3. The Assembly further recalls that the Court found in 2019 that Osman Kavala’s detention was inviolation of, inter alia, Article 18 taken together with Article 5(1) of the Convention as it was “establishedbeyond reasonable doubt that [his detention] pursued an ulterior purpose […] namely that of reducing theapplicant to silence”. In particular, the Court found that the evidence against him was not sufficient even towarrant a reasonable suspicion that he had committed these offences. Indeed, in the 2019 judgment, theCourt examined the indictment in great detail and held that there was no credible evidence to plausiblyconclude that there existed a reasonable suspicion in support of criminal charges, let alone such a seriouscharge. The Court also held that Türkiye was to take all necessary measures to put an end to Mr Kavala’sdetention and to secure his immediate release.

1. Assembly debate on 12 October 2023 (23rd sitting) (see Doc.15841, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs andHuman Rights, rapporteur: Ms Petra Bayr). Text adopted by the Assembly on 12 October 2023 (23rd sitting).

See also Recommendation 2261 (2023).

II SÉRIE-D — NÚMERO 18 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

144