Turkey has been strongly criticized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in a new report for failing to act to protect the interests of refugees and migrants in extradition and deportation proceedings.

Citing landmark decisions handed down against Turkey by the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the PACE report said the government of Turkey had failed to implement interim measures, also known as Rule 39, ordered by the court until the cases are settled.

The PACE report stressed the growing concern not only in the sheer increase in the number of cases but also in the increase in the number of cases where states have ignored interim measures ordered by the court. “This has resulted in persons being deported to countries where they are at risk of torture or ill-treatment, despite clear decisions by the court under Rule 39 not to deport them,” the report said. The number of applications for interim measures in 2009 approached 2,400, and Turkey in three cases thus far was found to have violated Rule 39, with many cases still pending before the court.