E.U. court upholds ban

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (BAHRAIN), AUG. 1. Turkey's Islamists have suffered another body blow with the European Court of Human Rights endorsing the national judiciary's practice of banning political organisations that seek to promote a religious agenda. The Islamists, who are on the verge of splitting along two or more strategic lines, had looked to the European Court to legitimise their efforts to form political parties.

In a ruling yesterday, the European Court said that the Turkish Constitutional Court's repeated banning of political parties formed to promote the religious agenda did not violate the human rights of those seeking to set up such parties. Turkey's Islamists had challenged the ban imposed in 1998 on the Welfare Party headed by the former Prime Minister, Mr. Necmettin Erbekan. Their challenge was based on the presumption that the ban imposed by the Constitutional Court violated Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights that enshrines freedom of association and assembly. The European Court ruled by a majority of four to three that the Turkish Court's action could reasonably be considered a response to a social problem with the aim of protecting democracy in the country.

Turkish Islamists had also challenged the 1998 ban on the grounds that it was a violation of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

The European Court, however, ruled that a party that insisted on resorting to violence and that did not respect democratic rights or aimed to destroy them could not seek protection under the Convention. This is a significant precedent that could prove invaluable for all Governments that have been faced with strong political movements, especially Islamic ones, that use the democratic processes to make a serious bid for power but leave little doubt that they do not believe in a democratic culture.

Such movements, several Governments in West Asia have argued, cannot be given legitimacy since they were likely to destroy democracy once they attained power. These arguments by the Governments had not found full acceptance in the West. The ruling by the European Court would thus appear to have settled the argument in favour of Governments and establishments under serious threat from religious extremists.

In fact, the majority in the European Court appear to have gone a bit further in the clarification of their approach. They pointed to some of the values promoted by leaders of the Welfare Party such as the introduction of religious laws and the advocacy of religious war (jehad) to achieve their ends. Such approaches were not compatible with the European Convention, the court ruled. The court also rejected the Islamists claim that their rights against discrimination, their freedom of expression, protection of property and right to free election had been violated.

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Section  : International
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