Final Verdict of the 54th Session of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal Rojava vs. Turkey
On March 26th, the final verdict of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) 54th session on Rojava vs. Turkey was presented at a special event in the European Parliament. This landmark judgement arrives at a pivotal moment for peace and political resolution regarding the Kurdish question in Northeastern Syria and Turkey.
The final verdict of the tribunal states:
The purpose of this Tribunal is to counter what Sartre denounced as the ‘crime of silence’, in the face of the atrocities masquerading as anti-terrorist operations which this Session has revealed. As the schoolgirl survivors of the atrocity at Schemoka school declared, ‘No one should turn a blind eye to Erdoğan; no one should be silent against the Turkish State’. The Tribunal is a tribune of visibility and the right to speak; the imperative on those who listen is to act, to take the messages conveyed in our recommendations to those with the power to enact them.
Based on the evidence presented, recommendation were put forward for the Government of Turkey, Government of Syria, United Nations, the European Council, Council of Europe and Member States, and the international community.
Key recommendations for the Government of Turkey included: to end its occupation of Afrin and the financing of the armed groups operating under its control, and ensure their disbandment, cease all attacks against Rojava and respect the territorial integrity of Syria, and allow independent investigations by the UN and human rights organisations into reported international crimes committed against the people of Rojava, and permit access to detention centres and prisons in the occupied regions.
Recommendations to the Government of Syria included: to acknowledge the right to self-determination exercised through the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and the autonomy of the administration, respect the arrangements for gender equality and for ethnic and religious equality of representation in the administration of the region, and stop Turkish incursions into Syrian territory, and if they continue, make a complaint to the International Court of Justice, seeking interim measures binding Turkey.
Recommendations to the UN focused on specific actions to be taken by the Security Council, The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, UNHCR, and UN Secretary-General.
The recommendations to the the European Council, Council of Europe and Member States focused on the initiation of procedures against Turkey through the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, national courts and prosecutors of the European States, while publicly condemning war crimes committee by Turkey against the peoples of Rojava. Finally, to the international community, the verdict stresses the importance of ensuring “the conditions for the development of coordinated efforts for the international recognition of the Autonomous Administration in the context of a necessary peace process for the Kurdish people in the region.”
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi stated the follwing in her speech after the final judgement’s presentation: “How long is this crime going to continue why is no one putting and end to it? Let’s don’t forget that these crimes are not only committed against Kurds in Rojava (Syria) but in Turkey, Iran and Iraq. I hope the world will not turn a blind eye to the situation of the Kurds, human rights activist and journalist be more active!”
Live Stream and record of the presentation: https://www.youtube.com/live/
Further information can be found at: https://rojavapeoplestribunal.
Read and download the verdict (PDF): https://iadllaw.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/PPT_ROJAVA_FULL-JUDGMENT_FINAL_19_03_2025.pdf