Submission by the Centre d’Etudes en Sciences Sociales sur les Mondes Africains, Américains et Asiatiques (CESSMA) the Association for Solidarity with Refugees (Mülteci-Der), and the Global Detention Project (GDP) pursuant to Rule 9.2 of the Committee of Ministers’ Rules for the Supervision of the Execution of Judgments, on the implementation of Akkad vs Turkey (Application No 1557/19)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. In line with Rule 9 of the Rules of the Committee of Ministers for the supervision of the execution of judgments and of the terms of friendly settlements, CESSMA, Mülteci-Der and the GDP hereby present a communication regarding the execution of the general measures in the European Court of Human Rights (the Court, or ECtHR) judgment concerning the case of Akkad v. Turkey (1557/19).
2. The situation has remained concerning after the delivery of the judgment in 2022. There continue to be important gaps in the law, as well as between legal frameworks and day-to-day. These gaps have also been the subject of recent recommendations issued by United Nations treaty bodies in their reviews of Turkey’s international legal obligations. Since the Akkad decision, key areas of concerns in Turkish state practice continue to be:
- Legal gaps regarding compensation for administrative detention;
- Legal gaps regarding the use of restraint measures;
- Arbitrary detention practices;
- Lack of access to effective remedies for detainees;
- Coercion in voluntary return programmes;
- Lack of safeguards for non-refoulement obligations.
3. The government submitted its first Action Plan concerning Akkad v Turkey on 24 December 2024. It argued that all necessary general and individual measures have been properly taken. In the opinion of CESSMA, Mülteci-Der and the GDP the supervision of individual measures can be discontinued, but the Action Plan does not provide sufficient reassurances on the effective implementation of all aspects of the general measures.
4. In the light of the serious shortcoming of the Action Plan of 24 December 2024 and unaddressed concerns with detention practices and voluntary return programmes as highlighted by Akkad v Turkey, CESSMA, Mülteci-Der and GDP call on the Committee of Ministers to:
- Continue the supervision of the general measures under the standard procedure;
- Call on the Turkish government to provide an Action Plan that answers in detail all of the Secretariat’s initial questions;
- Request the Turkish government to provide evidence with regards to the comprehensive and effective implementation of all aspects of the general measures that concern:
- Voluntary return programmes;
- Legal safeguards in places of administrative detention;
- Restriction equipment;
- Appeal procedures against administrative detention measures;
- Internal directives and secondary legislation for voluntary return programs.
Related Reading:
Submission: Türkiye: Submission to the Committee against Torture (June 2024)
Submission: Türkiye: Submission to the Committee on Migrant Workers (May 2024)
