Düsseldorf’s Tonhalle Awards its 2022 Human Rights Award to Jailed Turkish Cultural Promoter Osman Kavala

Düsseldorf's Tonhalle concert hall has named the Turkish cultural promoter Osman Kavala as the recipient of its 2022 Human Rights Award. Kavala is the founder and chair of the Turkish cultural nonprofit Anadolu Kültür, which alongside its funding of the arts is also involved in promoting the causes of a number of social justice issues.

The award, however, has not primarily been given for Kavala's work at Anadolu Kültür, but rather to acknowledge his fight against Turkish authorities after he was wrongfully held in jail for over four years. As reported by German news outlet Deutsche Welle, Kavala has been imprisoned without a conviction since October 2017, after he was accused of financing anti-government protests and helping to plan a coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2013.

Turkey is now facing disciplinary action from the Council of Europe (COE) for holding Kavala for such an extended length of time. This extreme intervention follows a 2019 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights calling for Kavala's release, which Turkey circumvented by altering the charges against him.

"The Osman Kavala case is a shocking example of massive political interference in the administration of justice," said Düsseldorfer Symphoniker chief conductor Adam Fischer, who founded the orchestra's Human Rights Award. "It is quite obvious that a person who stands up for human and civil rights is to be punished and silenced."

Previous recipients of the Tonhalle's Human Rights Award include the American businessman and philanthropist George Soros, and the young climate activist organization Fridays for Future Germany.