European Parliament resolution on the outcome of the trial against Leyla Zana and others in Ankara
Date: 2004-04-22
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Türkiye, appeal, barring of penalties by limitation, judicial reform, penalty, political prisoner, ruling

C 104 E/1060

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

30.4.2004

Thursday 22 April 2004

94.
Reiterates its call on the Commission and the Council to strongly support initiatives to promote and
enhance the fight against caste discrimination in all relevant United Nations fora; calls on the Commission
and the Council to ensure that the issue of caste discrimination and policies to combat this wide-spread
form of racism is properly addressed in all country strategy papers, mid-term reviews of these and com-
munications on countries affected by it;

95.
Deplores that no action has been taken by the Commission and the Council to enhance the political
and human rights dialogue with caste afflicted countries on the issue of the continued dehumanising prac-
tice of caste discrimination, and that the effectiveness of EU human rights policy in terms of addressing
caste discrimination still remains to be assessed;

96.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, Commission, the governments and
parliaments of the Member States and the accession countries, the United Nations, the Council of Europe,
the OSCE and the governments of the countries mentioned in this resolution and the offices of the main
human rights NGOs based in the EU.

P5_TA(2004)0377

Trial against Leyla Zana and others in Ankara

European Parliament resolution on the outcome of the trial against Leyla Zana and others in
Ankara

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to its previous resolutions on human rights in Turkey,

(cid:1) having regard, in particular, to its resolution of 1 April 2004 on Turkey’s progress towards acces-

sion (1),

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 37(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas in 1994 Mrs Leyla Zana, Mr Hatip Dicle, Mr Orhan Dogan and Mr Selim Sadak, MPs repre-
senting the DEP, were sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for their political activities in support of
the fundamental rights of the Kurdish people,

B. whereas Mrs Leyla Zana was awarded Parliament’s 1995 Sakharov Prize,

C. whereas, in its judgment of 17 July 2001, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg
noted the lack of independence and impartiality of the State Security Court in Ankara, breaches of the
rights of the defence and the presence in court of military judges, a judgment which prompted the
Turkish authorities to hold a new trial against Leyla Zana and others,

D. whereas Turkey has enacted new legislation which provides for the re-opening of trials declared
‘unfair’ by the ECHR in Strasbourg, and whereas a new trial against Leyla Zana and others opened
on 28 March 2003,

1.
Condemns the decision by the State Security Court in Ankara to confirm the 1994 sentence of
15 years’ imprisonment imposed on Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak, a further
breach of the guidelines laid down by the ECHR in Strasbourg;

2.
Takes the view that this new sentence stands in clear contradiction to the judicial reform process
started by the Turkish Government, the implementation of which Parliament will follow very closely, also
in the period leading up to December 2004;

(1) P5_TA(2004)0274.

30.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 104 E/1061

Thursday 22 April 2004

Deplores the exploitation of the ‘Zana trial’ by those who wish to impede the reform process in

3.
Turkey;

Stresses that this case is symbolic of the gap which exists between the Turkish judicial system and

4.
that of the European Union;

5.
Condemns the breaches of the rights of defence which have occurred during the new trial against
Leyla Zana and others, such as the presence of the State Prosecutor in all the rooms where the judges were
required to take decisions concerning the accused, the failure to acknowledge the right of the accused to
be released in accordance with the ECHR judgment of 17 July 2001, and the inability of the defence to
check the veracity of the accusations made by the State Prosecutor;

Calls for the immediate abolition of the State Security Courts, and calls on the Turkish parliamentary

6.
and governmental authorities to take practical steps to deal with this issue;

Hopes that the Turkish final Court of Appeal will quash the sentence imposed on Mrs Zana and the

7.
three other former Turkish MPs of Kurdish origin;

8.

Calls on the Turkish authorities to grant an amnesty to all those imprisoned for their political views;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Turkish

9.
Government and Parliament.

P5_TA(2004)0378

Broad guidelines of economic policy

European Parliament resolution on the Commission recommendation on the 2004 update of the
Broad Guidelines of the Economic Policies of the Member States and the Community (for the
2003-2005 period) (COM(2004) 238 (cid:1) C5-0183/2004(cid:1)2004/2020(INI))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission recommendation (COM(2004) 238 (cid:1) C5-0183/2004),

(cid:1) having regard to Article 99(2) of the EC Treaty,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission report on the implementation of the 2003-2005 Broad Economic

Policy Guidelines (COM(2003) 170),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolutions of 12 March 2003 on the state of the European economy (cid:1) prepara-
tory report with a view to the Commission recommendation on Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (1)
and of 15 May 2003 on the Commission recommendation on the Broad Guidelines of the Economic
Policies of the Member States and the Community (for the 2003-2005 period) (2) and to its resolution
of the 23 October 2003 on the outcome of the European Council meeting held in Brussels on
16/17 October 2003 (3),

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission’s Spring Economic Forecasts 2004-2005 for the euro area, the

European Union and the Acceding and Candidate countries,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission report to the Spring European Council (COM(2004) 29),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution on the situation of the European economy, report on the broad guide-

lines for economic policies of 26 February 2004 (4),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution on the Spring Summit: follow-up to Lisbon of 26 February 2004 (5),

(1) OJ C 61 E, 10.3.2004, p. 294.
(2) OJ C 67 E, 17.3.2004, p. 295.
(3) P5_TA(2003)0459.
(4) P5_TA(2004)0116.
(5) P5_TA(2004)0114.