On July 21st, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) unjustly refused to take measures to protect children and vulnerable individuals of a persecuted religious minority group in detention in Turkey. Despite overwhelming evidence of ongoing violations of their human rights, the Court rejected an application for interim measures and left the group without support or protection.

There is clear evidence, expanded in the press release, that the group are exposed to ongoing severe violations of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and, in line with this, on July 11th a request for interim measures was lodged at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) focussed on the need to terminate the ongoing violations of Article 3, inter alia by obtaining an independent medical examination of the group and an independent monitoring of their conditions. On July 21st the Court communicated their decision not to indicate to the Government of Turkey the measures requested, with no reasoning for the rejection provided. This decision is in stark contrast to the ECtHRs case law, especially concerning the detention conditions of children, whose vulnerability should always take precedence over any consideration related to their documentation status.

Eleven Civil Society Organisations call for a re-examination of the case at the earliest moment possible due to the pressing nature of the ongoing violations.