Seite - 15 - in Austrian Law Journal, Band 1/2020

ALJ 2020 Benedek 14 Generally, the member states being preoccupied with the situation in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine have shown only limited interest in using the tools of the Council of Europe in the case of the Chechen Republic while PACE has been very active by pursuing reports like the one on the persecution of LGBTI people in the Chechen Republic of 2018.52 The Secretary General in his annual report of 2018 referred to the critique by PACE regarding the harassment of opposition activists and NGOs and their request to abrogate the law on foreign agents. The Russian government declines responsibility for the events in Chechnya although it is legally responsible for human rights violations in its Republic. Without a more concerted action of Council of Europe member states, the highly problematic human rights situation in which investigative journalists, human rights organizations and anyone critical of the government find themselves at risk might not improve. 2. Turkey After a time of degradation of democracy and freedom of expression in Turkey and the attempted coup by parts of the army, the following state of emergency of 2016 led to a massive repression of people considered as Gülenists and anybody critical of the Erdogan government in the public sphere. In this context some 150 000 civil servants were purged, 77 000 charged for suspected links to the coup, some 4000 judges and prosecutors were dismissed and also a large number of academics lost their positions. Many found themselves in prison together with numerous journalists and elected parliamentarians from the mainly Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which became a particular object of government repression. Some 700 journalists lost their accreditation. The Commission set up by the Turkish government in agreement with the Council of Europe in 2017 to review the cases of the civil servants by 2018 had only reviewed 36 000 cases, with only about 2300 persons reinstated in their positions. Some 50 000 persons had been charged with terrorism while many others were waiting in pre-trial detention to be charged.53 While the Turkish government on the initiative of the Ministry of Justice in 2014 still had adopted an Action Plan on Prevention of ECHR Violations,54 there was little progress from 2015 onwards. Joint projects of the Council of Europe and the European Union like the one on strengthening the capacity of the Turkish judiciary on freedom of expression were undermined by political events while nearing completion.55 After the Vaclav Havel prize had been awarded by PACE in November 2017 to Murat Aslan, former chair of the judges and prosecutors arrested by Turkey in 2016 for suspected links to the Fetullahist Organization considered responsible for the military coup, Turkey also withdrew its voluntary support for the Council of Europe where it had become one of the six major funders.56 52 Parliamentary Assembly, The Persecution of LGBTI people in the Chechen Republic (RF), rapporteur Piet de Bruyn, Jun. 8, 2018. 53 Human Rights Watch, 2019 World Report, section on Turkey, available at https://www.hrw.org/world- report/2019/country-chapters/turkey (last visited 02.12.2020). 54 Action Plan on Prevention of ECHR Violations, available at http://www.judiciaryofturkey.gov.tr/pdfler/action.pdf (last visited 02.12.2020). 55 Strengthening the Capacity of Turkish Judiciary on Freedom of Expression, Joint EU – Council of Europe project, 2014-2016. 56 Hurrijet Daily News of Nov. 9, 2017: Turkey no longer Council of Europe major donor, at https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-no-longer-major-council-of-europe-donor-minister-122219 (last visited 02.12.2020).