Ebru Timtik had been on strike since February to advocate for a right to fair trial in the country
Kurdish human rights lawyer Ebru Timtik has died while on hunger strike in Turkey.
She had been fasting since February—a period of more than 200 days—along with fellow lawyer Aytaç Ünsal as part of an effort to push for the right to a fair trial in Turkey. Both had been committed to the Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul as their health declined.
The Turkish government had arrested Timtik, Ünsal and 16 other lawyers from the Progressive Lawyers Association (Çagdas Hukukçular Dernegi, ÇHD) and People’s Law Office (Halkin Hukuk Bürosu) on terrorism-related charges. The organisations had a reputation for representing those who contested the government.
The International Bar Association Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) described instances indicating that the trial process had lacked impartiality, which included the removal of judges who had called for the lawyers’ release from pre-trial detention, a subsequent re-arrest and the defence’s inability to examine witnesses effectively. Requests for recusal of the bench were turned down.
In March 2019, the court sentenced Timtik to 13.5 years in prison, while Ünsal got 10.5 years. Appeals for release were rejected by the Istanbul Regional Court of Appeal in October 2019 and by the Court of Cassation on 14 August. Another appeal was pending at the time of Timtik’s death.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) reacted to Timtik’s death in a statement released on 28 August, which said that the OMCT blamed authorities in Turkey.
“The Turkish authorities are responsible for the death of Ms. Ebru Timtik, as they repeatedly rejected all the appeals for her release, constantly denying any risk for her physical security, and any danger to her life,” FIDH Vice President Alexis Deswaef said.
Gerald Staberock, the secretary general of the OMCT, said that Timtik’s death originated from the “persecution of rights activists in Turkey that has to end” and called for the surviving Ünsal’s release.
Other international bodies that had reacted to Timtik and Ünsal’s situation included the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, the International Association of Lawyers, the Law Society of England and Wales and Lawyers for Lawyers in the Netherlands. In a joint statement with the IBAHRI that was released prior to Timtik’s death, the organizations said that Turkey was “bound to uphold the right to a fair trial according to a number of international treaties of which Turkey is a signatory, including Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights and Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
“Timtik and Ünsal are demanding that these obligations are observed not only for themselves, but also for all others who are on trial or in prison without having their fair trial rights respected,” the joint statement said.
Ünsal is presently in critical condition at Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital. His appeal is pending before the Supreme Court.
