Kaya v Turkey, Kiliç v Turkey: Failure to Protect Victims at Risk - A Case Report

In addition to the detailed descriptions of the legal proceedings at the European Court of Human Rights, these case reports offer summaries of the arguments raised by both parties in the cases and analyses of the rights at issue and the findings of both the European Commission and the European Court.

In 1993 the body of Hasan Kaya, a doctor practising in Elazig, was found under a bridge near Tunceli. He had been shot through the head. In the same year, Kemal Kiliç, a journalist with the Özgür Gündem newspaper in Sanliurfa, was shot dead by four men on his way home from work.

The Kaya v Turkey and Kiliç v Turkey case report offers thorough analyses of the two July 2000 judgments handed down by European Court. Both cases involved the right to life as protected by Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and in both cases, the Court found that the right to life included positive obligations on the part of the State to protect such a right and to conduct an effective and thorough investigation into the circumstances of killings associated with the security forces and the gendarmerie. In each of the cases, the Court found Turkey in violation of both obligations. In the case of Mahmut Kaya, the Court also found that the victim, Hasan Kaya, had suffered inhuman and degrading treatment prior to his death, in violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture) of the Convention.