On Thursday 30 January, Medya News hosted an online event with lawyers Jan Fermon, Rengin Ergül, Ceren Uysal, and Socrates Tziazas. The discussion was moderated by Medya News contributor Tom Anderson.
You can listen to a recording of the event here.
The event brought together members of the prosecution team for the upcoming Rojava People’s Tribunal to discuss Turkey’s war crimes in North and East Syria, the role of international law in ensuring accountability, and the broader implications of the tribunal for justice and human rights.
The Rojava Tribunal is the 54th in a series of People’s Tribunals, that began with the famous 1966 Russell Tribunal, which held the US government to account for war crimes committed in Vietnam. People’s Tribunals are a form of grassroots justice and accountability, available to the people when states and international institutions are failing to prevent war crimes and crimes against humanity from taking place. The Rojava Tribunal is the second one to discuss Turkey’s crimes against the Kurdish people.
In 2018 a People’s Tribunal in Paris examined the violations of international law by Turkey during the curfews and siege imposed on Kurdish cities in southeast Turkey by the Turkish state from 2015-17. It also looked at the covert policy of assassinations, bombings and kidnappings carried out by the Turkish intelligence services since 2003 in Europe and elsewhere. Its condemnation of Turkey’s crimes resounded internationally and was submitted to the European Parliament.
The organisers of this year’s Rojava People’s Tribunal hope that the event can bring wider recognition of Turkey’s continued breaches of international law, and open new pathways toward justice.
The upcoming tribunal – taking place at Vrije University in Brussels on 5-6 February– will examine whether Turkey is guilty of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and the Crime of Aggression in North and East Syria.
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Rojava Tribunal: Investigating Turkey’s war crimes, attack on a democratic revolutionTurkey’s war crimes in Rojava: Lawyer Heike Geisweid on Brussel’s People’s Tribunal Rojava’s quest for justice: Mazloum Abdi demands tribunal for Turkey’s crimes
Evidence to be presented
Lawyer Socrates Tziazas, of the Cyprus Democratic Lawyers Association, told the audience that the tribunal would be looking at evidence of the destruction of heritage sites, forced displacement, demographic engineering, constructions of settlements, torture, kidnapping, arbitrary arrests, disappearances, violence against women and the destruction of infrastructure essential to sustaining life by the Turkish state and its proxies. The tribunal will be drawing from the reports of human rights organisations and witness testimony in bringing this evidence.
According to Tziazas, the evidence shows that:
“beyond doubt, war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed by Turkey and Turkish proxies"
‘Not just war crimes’
Rengin Ergül told the online meeting:
"Turkeys war on Rojava is not about security, they are not just war crimes, it is a Turkish project to wipe out Kurdish self-determination and democracy in the region. It is part of the Genocide against Kurds."
Ergül is a lawyer and a member of the MAF-DAD association of Kurdish, Turkish and German layers, the Association for Democracy and International Law and part of the legal team representing imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Sadly, renowned lawyer Jan Fermon was not able to participate due to technical difficulties. Fermon is known for his defence of the PKK in the Belgian courts, where he successfully obtained a ruling in Belgium’s highest court that the PKK is not a terrorist organisation, but a legitimate non-state party to an armed conflict. Medya News plans to publish an interview with Fermon about the Rojava Peoples’ Tribunal soon.
Destruction of medical infrastructure
Audience member Dersim Dağdeviren made a contribution about how her organisation, the KURD-AKAD association of Kurdish professionals, had made a legal complaint about the destruction of Kobani (Kobanê) Medical Centre after a Turkish attack in 2023. The centre was responsible for vaccinations, and was a vital piece of infrastructure. Dağdeviren, who is a doctor, told the audience that she hoped that the tribunal could raise awareness on the attacks on medical infrastructure in North and East Syria.
Grassroots justice and accountability
Remarking on the possible outcomes of the upcoming tribunal, Ergül concluded:
“The tribunal has a chance to dramatically shift the international perception on Turkey - producing a broad consensus that Turkey is committing war crimes, paving the way for stronger international pressure to hold those responsible to account." "The tribunal offers justice for victims and survivors but also works to protect humanitarian law and safeguard human rights in conflict zones. The Rojava Revolution focuses on human rights, democracy, so supporting justice for Rojava, is not just about Rojava, but also about ensuring fundamental principles are defended."
‘Breaking the silence is a joint responsibility’
Lawyer Ceren Uysal, Co-Secretary General of the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, told the audience:
“The People’s Tribunal on Rojava will be a chance to collect all the evidence together, the weight of all the reports being presented simultaneously will have weight”, she hoped.
Uysal concluded:
“We are talking about human being's lives here, we are giving them the venue to explain together, giving them a platform, a voice. We hope that we will also be able to hear from the experts on various issues, it will be a historic two days, it will not be easy, but breaking the silence is a joint responsibility. To convince all the oppressed people of the world to come together and ask for accountability for each other."
You can register to attend the Rojava Tribunal here.
You can listen to a recording of the event here.
