BON, Germany, — The second International Law Conference was held yesterday in Bon and it was attended by lawyers from various courtiers.
The lawyers discussed methods by which the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) could be taken off from the European terror list.
The attendants pointed out that Switzerland do not recognise the European terror list and they did appreciate this decision by Switzerland authorities.
Thomas Schmitt the General Secretary of the Democratic Union of the Lawyers stated that, the terror list which has been compiled by the EU has generated considerable legal difficulties for them.
To remove the PKK from the EU’s terror list, Mr. Schmitt appealed to the support of all the European lawyers.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is the only Kurdish political organisation in Turkey resisting the Turkish oppression of the Kurds was put into the European terror list in May 2002, while the PKK ended its arm conflict with Turkey in 1999.
Blacklisting of the PKK by the EU blocked the way toward peaceful settlement to the Kurdish issue. It created a justification for further oppression of Kurdish people and has spurred Turkey to commit more violence against the Kurds who are regarded as “terrorists”.
Almost 3000 Kurdish children aged from 7 and 8, are imprisoned in Turkey under the charge of “terrorism”. More than 1500 Kurdish politicians, who have been democratically elected, are put into jail and charged with “terrorism”. These are all the consequence of blacklisting of the Kurdish resistance movement.
The European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights ELDH and the Association for Democracy and International Law MAF-DAD have demanded that the PKK should be taken off from Terror List.
The European Union court ruled against the way the PKK was blacklisted. The Court of First Instance (CFI), and the EU’s second-highest court, has also said the EU had not justified its decision at the time. The Luxembourg-based Court of First Instance said that a decision made by EU governments in 2002 was illegal under EU law and the EU nations are obliged to implement the EU court rulings. Europe’s human rights watchdog, has said the EU’s anti-terror rules violate democratic principles.