Turkey tops ECHR list in total number of applications in 2022

The highest number of applications to the European Court of Human Rights was received from Turkey in 2022. 12,555 applications out of a total 45,528 were from Turkey in 2022, according to the ECHR’s annual activity report.

Saturday January 28 2023 04:08 pm

Duvar English

Turkey ranked first regarding the total number of applications made to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2022, the annual activity report revealed on Jan. 26.

Accordingly, Turkey became first with 12,555 (27 percent) applications out of a total 45,528 in 2022 as for the total number of applications made to the ECHR and allocated to a judicial formation.

Russia followed Turkey with 6,077 applications allocated to a judicial formation.

Announcing 80 judgments regarding Turkey in 2022, the ECHR has ruled that there is a violation of human rights against Turkey in at least one article in 73 cases.

27 of these cases violated the "right to liberty and security," the ECHR ruled.

As for the pending cases, as of Dec. 31, 2022, Turkey ranked first with 20,115 cases out of a total 74,600 applications.

The report specifically mentioned the case of Turkish philanthropist and rights activist Osman Kavala.

“(Kavala's) case shows the wrongs and unfair treatment that individuals may face when the judiciary provides tools for repression instead of remedies against it. It also shows the limits of what an international system can achieve. In the end, the ultimate responsibility for upholding human rights norms lies with States,” it said.

Kavala was arrested in 2017 on charges that he helped to plan the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Turkey. He was cleared of these charges in February 2020 but immediately arrested on charges that he orchestrated the July 2016 coup attempt, seen at the time as a way of getting around the ECHR's 2019 ruling that called for his immediate release.

An Istanbul court sentenced Kavala to life in prison without parole on charges of attempting to overthrow the government.

The ECHR found that the Turkish government failed to fulfill its obligations to release Kavala in accordance with the court's judgment of December 2019. The decision paves the way for the process that can lead to Ankara's suspension from the Council of Europe (CoE).