The Right to Hope Must Be Recognised – Türkiye’s Aggravated Life Sentences Under Scrutiny

Thousands of individuals in Türkiye are serving aggravated life sentences under a legal regime that excludes any possibility of conditional release or sentence review. These prisoners - convicted under laws concerning “State security”, “constitutional order”, “national defence”, or “terrorism” - face lifelong imprisonment without access to a functioning, reviewable, and non-discriminatory mechanism, regardless of the time served or any change in their individual circumstances.

This de jure and de facto irreducibility of life sentences violates Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. As the European Court of Human Rights clarified in the Gurban group of cases, including Öcalan (2), life sentences must be reducible - not only in law, but in practice - offering prisoners a genuine prospect of release after a certain period.

Türkiye has yet to introduce the necessary legal reforms. No functioning review mechanism exists. Article 107 of Law No. 5275 expressly excludes certain categories of offences from conditional release, and the current legal framework fails to meet the Convention standards. 

Ahead of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers' Human Rights meeting (15–17 September 2025), Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project (TLSP), European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH), Democracy and International Law Association (MAF-DAD), and London Legal Group (LLG) submitted a Rule 9.2 communication, calling for: 

✅ Legislative reform ensuring all life sentences are de jure and de facto reducible;

✅ An accessible, judicially reviewable mechanism open to all categories of life-sentenced prisoners - without exception;

✅ A first review no later than 25 years after imprisonment, with periodic reviews thereafter;

✅ Individualised assessments based on objective, transparent criteria, not merely the nature of original offence;

✅ Robust procedural safeguards including the right to legal representation, access to information, and judicial review.

You can read the submission here.