The murder of Tahir Elci on 28th November 2015 represents another tragic loss to the human rights community. Another undeserved casualty of the political chaos in Turkey. Tahir was a prominent human rights lawyer practising in Diyarbakir in South East Turkey. He was the President of the Diyarbakir Bar Association. He had been taking cases against Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights since 1992 as well as representing numerous applicants before the domestic courts in South East Turkey in relation to criminal matters. Cases mainly on behalf of individuals victimised by clashes between the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) and the Turkish Army. I shared Tahir’s journey through a number of the cases in Strasbourg which we worked on together.
The first of these cases was a village destruction case (Ozkan and others V Turkey). The facts behind the early progress of this case show the tenacity of the man, and his determination to pursue remedies on behalf of over 200 villagers who had seen their village and their whole way of life destroyed in February 1993. Theirs was one of over 3,000 villages destroyed during the military campaign against the PKK which took place in the early 1990’s. Tahir was one of very few lawyers willing to pursue cases to Strasbourg over this period. He secured fingerprinted petitions from over 30 of the villagers and submitted them to Strasbourg. He visited the applicants, who had been scattered across Turkey after losing their homes, and drafted statements. In November 1993, he and others were arrested and tortured. All of the case files in relation to the applicants, together with other case files, were confiscated, and the case stalled for some 5 years whilst the Turkish authorities tried to get it struck out. Tahir himself took the state to the European Court of Human Rights and secured a judgement that he had been unlawfully detained and tortured. He was successful and secured damages of £70,000. The case files were never however returned but he set about re-constituting the case which was eventually heard in 1998. The applicants secured their judgement in 2004 and substantial compensation was awarded. Justice was done.
In the two decades since the Ozkan case started Tahir has taken scores of cases to the European Court to hold the state authorities in Turkey to account for violation of the fundamental rights of its citizens. Other cases involving torture, disappearances, arbitrary killings and bombings by the state were also successful. Throughout his career he was subject to serious personal risk. Only a month ago he was interviewed on behalf of Channel 4 News in the UK and confirmed that he had received “hundreds” of threats on social media and personally. But his determination to stand up for the rule of law and for the protection of fundamental freedoms has made him unflinching in the pursuit of remedies for his clients. Equally unflinching was his advocacy for a peaceful and non-violent solution to the Kurdish issue in Turkey. Ironically this was the subject of his final address before his assassination on 27th November.
There are not many like Tahir Elci. His humanity, humour, independence and singleness of purpose were infectious. He was a great influencer and a fighter to the end. His energy and enthusiasm, his dedication and his love for his work and for his family were an inspiration. He will be so sadly missed, not only amongst his community of lawyers friends and supporters in Turkey, but by the wider international community of human rights practitioners in Europe. For me, I have lost a true friend and colleague who I will mourn forever. Our hearts and our support must go out to his family.
Tony Fisher 29.11.15
