For immediate release - 21st January 2005

Press release from:
Kurdish Human Rights Project

KHRP case establishes violation of right to life in Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights unanimously held on 18 January 2005 that Turkey had violated the right to life (Article 2) and the right to an effective remedy (Article 13) of the ECHR by failing to conduct an effective investigation into killings that took place during an operation by security forces in a Kurdish village in 1994 (Mentese and Others v. Turkey (no. 36217/97)).

The applicants (Abdullah Mentese, Zühra Bozkus, Mustafa Demirhan and Süleyman Maço) alleged that their relatives were intentionally killed by the security forces following an operation in the village of Yolçati, in the Lice District of Diyarbakir (Turkey) on 13 May 1994. They relied on Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and 8 (right to respect for family life).

All the applicants complained that they were forcibly evicted and that their family homes and possessions were destroyed, relying on Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security), Article 3, Article 8 (right to respect for home) and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property). They further relied on Article 6 (access to court), Article 13 (right to an effective remedy), Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) and, given their Kurdish origins, Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination).

The European Court of Human Rights felt there was an insufficient factual and evidentiary basis on which to conclude that the men were, beyond reasonable doubt, intentionally or recklessly killed by the security forces, as alleged by the applicants, the Court held, unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 2, Article 3 or Article 8, concerning the deaths of the applicants' relatives.

However, concerning the investigations into the men's deaths, the Court noted striking omissions in the way they were conducted. The first on-site inspection at the scene of the crime was made in 2001, almost seven years after the incident, and only external examinations of the bodies were carried out to establish the cause of death. In addition, the investigations, now pending for more than ten years, did not appear to have produced any tangible results. The Court therefore concluded that the domestic authorities did not conduct a prompt and adequate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killings. The authorities concerned disregarded their essential responsibilities in that respect hence violating Article 2 and Article 13.

As the applicants were never arrested, detained, or otherwise deprived of their liberty, the Court held, unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 5 § 1; their insecure personal circumstances arising from the loss of their homes did not fall within the notion of security of person as envisaged in Article 5 § 1 of the Convention.

Concerning the loss of the applicants' homes, the Court considered that there was no sufficient, consistent or reliable evidence to establish to the necessary degree of proof that the security forces were responsible as alleged. Consequently, the Court held, unanimously, that no findings of a violation of Articles 3 or 8 or Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 could be made and that Article 13 was inapplicable.

The Court found the applicants' complaints under Articles 14 and 18 to be unsubstantiated and therefore held unanimously that there had been no violation of either Article.

For further information please contact:

Kerim Yildiz (Executive Director)/Rochelle Harris, Public Relations Officer
khrp@khrp.org
0207 405-3835

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