PUBLIC HEARINGS AGAINST TURKEY AT THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS 25-26 APRIL IN STRASBOURG
Press Release (Cases Update): 19 April 1996
The European Court of Human Rights is scheduled to hear arguments on two KHRP
assisted cases against Turkey next week. The Court will hear AKDIVAR and Others
v. Turkey (21893/93) at 3p.m. on Thursday, 25 April 1996 and AKSOY v. Turkey
(21987/93) at 9:15 a.m. on Friday, 26April 1996. The public hearings will
be held at the Court in Strasbourg.
Both cases have passed before the European Commission of Human Rights which, in Article 31 decisions released in December 1995, found Turkey in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights.
Akdivar and Others v. Turkey deals with allegations of the destruction of nine houses in the village of Kelekci in Diyarbakir Province. The applicants allege that Turkish gendarme burned their houses and destroyed their belongings. In addition, the gendarme fired heavy weapons from military vehicles and shot livestock that belonged to the villagers. The Commission found Turkey in violation of Articles 8 (respect for family life), 3 (freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment), 6(1) and 13 (right to effective access to tribunals and domestic remedies), 25 (right to make an application under the Convention), and Article 1 of Protocol 1 (right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions).
Aksoy v. Turkey involves allegations of torture while in detention of Mr. Zeki Aksoy. According to Mr. Aksoy's account of the facts, the Turkish authorities detained him on 24 November 1992 and tortured him at the Mardin State Security Directorate. The torture took the form of beatings, abuse, electric shocks, hosing with cold water and Palestinian hanging (suspension by the arms which have been tied behind the back). The Commission found Turkey in violation of Articles 3(freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment), 5(3) (freedom from detention which exceeded the Government's "margin of appreciation"), and 6(1) (right to effective access to tribunal and domestic remedies).
These cases are indicative of broader issues of concern: the forced eviction of an estimated three million people from south-east Turkey and the continuing systematic use of torture in Turkey.
The KHRP and the Human Rights Association of Turkey
assist individual applicants in taking grievances to Strasbourg. These cases
are pursued in order to promote accountability and the rule of law in Turkey.
To date, 54 KHRP assisted cases have been declared Admissible by the European
Commission. Over 400 individuals have been helped with cases before the ECHR
by the Project.
Please e-mail KHRP at khrp@khrp.org, to be placed on our Press Release mailing list.
For further information please contact: Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director / Fiona McKay, Deputy Director / Sally Eberhardt, Public Relations Officer Kurdish Human Rights Project on the address below.
