ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Human rights advocates in Belarus are calling on authorities to stop the deportation of Kurdish political activist Hicri Mamas back to Turkey, after the Supreme Court of Belarus denied his appeal to avoid extradition. Mamas, a member of the pro-Kurdish, opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), was arrested in the Belarussian capital, Minsk in July 2019 and accused of using a forged passport. Turkey's Justice Ministry petitioned for Mamas to be deported to Turkey to face charges of "disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state." Mamas, through his lawyers, insisted he hadn't committed any crimes and claimed that he is being prosecuted "on the basis of political views because he took part in peaceful demonstrations and agitate the youth to join the [HDP], as he himself was its member for some time," a statement from his lawyers read. "We consider that Hicri Mamas cannot be extradited to Turkey. There he … most likely will be subjected to torture," said Enira Bronitskay, a human rights coordinator at the Belarussian watchdog Human Constanta, in a May statement. Deputy Prosecutor General Alyaksei Stuk granted Turkey's request on April 23, but lawyers appealed the decision, Belsat reported. With the Supreme Court ruling, all options for appeal have now been exhausted, clearing the way for Mamas’ extradition to Turkey to face charges. Human Constanta submitted a petition to the UN Human Rights Committee on behalf of Mr. Mamas, which was registered as received on May 11, 2020. "Under rule 94 of the Committee's rules of procedure, the State party has also been requested not to deport Hicri Mamas to Turkey while his case is under consideration by the Committee," the acknowledgment read, adding: "This request does not imply that any decision has been reached on the substance of the matter under consideration." Mamas' lawyer in the Belarus appeal, Alena Chekhovich, called the risk that Mamas faces of undergoing torture a "real possibility," adding that the UN Human Rights Committee had yet to issue a finding in the case. The Foreign Ministry of Belarus, however, says the UN body’s ruling is not binding on their soil, reports Belsat. The activist is expected to be extradited on July 1, when flights are set to resume between Belarus and Turkey after a temporary suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A spokesperson for the HDP told Rudaw English: "we have no statement at this time." Turkish courts have leveled the charge of "disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state" against Kurdish activists who have followed calls to form "people's assemblies" in parts of Turkey's southeast, saying that such formations "would not recognize state institutions and would form their own self-governance," according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency. Greater "autonomy" for Kurds in Turkey has long been a demand by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, (PKK) which took up arms against the Turkish state in the 1980s. Turkey's long and bloody conflict with the PKK has claimed thousands of lives, including civilians on both sides of the conflict, and evokes powerful and entrenched emotions among all sections of society across the country. A brief period of respite came between 2013 and 2015, when leaders in Ankara and Qandil entered into peace talks, which eventually broke down and hostilities resumed. Kurds in Turkey have been subjected to generations of discrimination, ranging from common bigotry and social inequities to discriminatory state policies, such as the banning of the Kurdish language, which remained in effect until 1991.
