Paris Bar Association has announced that it gave honorary membership to Ebru Timtik, Aytaç Ünsal, a lawyer who in on a death fast as well, and Tahir Elçi, the former Diyarbakır Bar Chair who was shot dead during a press meeting in November 2015:
It is with deep emotion that the Paris Bar wishes to honor the memory of our colleagues in Turkey and Haiti, who died while they courageously carried out their mission in the service of the profession and of justice.
We learned with dismay and deep sorrow of the death of lawyer Ebru Timtik, victim of a 238-day (more than 7-month) hunger strike that she had started simply to demand a fair trial from the Turkish authorities. Despite the deterioration of his state of health and medical expertise on the incompatibility of his detention in prison, his release was refused on August 10.
The next day, our profession was again bereaved by the assassination of Monferrier Dorval, president of the bar of Port-au-Prince, man of culture, eminent constitutionalist, deeply human and attentive to others.
We hope that the judicial inquiry will tell precisely the conditions under which this horrible crime was prepared, the particular cruelty of which will forever mark the Haitian bar and our profession as a whole.
Because they had known the dark times of their country, Ebru Timtik and Monferrier Dorval were, undoubtedly more than others, aware of what history can be tragic. But they wanted, with courage and determination, to help promote the rule of law, human rights and the right of everyone to a fair trial.
In order to honor the memory of our colleagues and to solemnly express the esteem and respect that the Paris Bar has for our colleagues, Ebru Timtik, and Monferrier Dorval are called, posthumously, within our order as honorary members of the Paris bar.
Aytaç Ünsal, who continues his hunger strike (more than 200 days) for the right to a fair trial, is also elected honorary member and will be placed under the protection of the Bâtonnier of Paris.
Likewise, to pay tribute to the commitment of our colleague Tahir Elçi, President of the Bar of Diyarbakir, assassinated in 2015 and whose murder has still not been elucidated, the Paris Bar has elevated him to the rank of honorary member.
"If a lawyer dies, he will seek justice in his grave," Ebru Timtik said. With this exceptional vote, the bar expresses its wish to follow the judicial inquiries and the ongoing trials, particularly within the framework of the judicial observation missions of our bar, in collaboration with the International Observatory of Lawyers in Danger (OIAD).
On September 7 at 12 noon, at the initiative of the Conference of Bâtonniers and the FBE, a ceremony in unison with that which brought together the Council of the Order yesterday, will take place in all the courts of Europe to render the same solemn homage to our missing and threatened colleagues.
Recently, the legal profession has experienced many trials, often dramatic ones. On the occasion of the 30 years of the Havana Principles, the Paris Bar has also decided to create a “welcome and respite program” for threatened lawyers all over the world, in the tradition of welcoming and defending of the defense of the Paris Bar.
This program will testify to the unique commitment of the Paris Bar to defend the essential role of the legal profession and will embody its qualities of hospitality and openness to the world.
