The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 24 May 2011 as a Committee composed of: David Thór Björgvinsson, President, Giorgio Malinverni, Guido Raimondi, judges, and Françoise Elens Passos, Deputy Section Registrar, Having regard to the above application lodged on 30 September 2005, Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case, Having deliberated, decides as follows: PROCEDURE The applicants, Mr Mustafa Arslan, Mrs Fatma Arslan, Mr Murat Arslan, Ms Deniz Arslan, Ms Derya Bicolar and Ms Dilek Demir are Turkish nationals who were born in 1940, 1941, 1965, 1977, 1969 and 1974 respectively and live in Diyarbakır. The first two applicants are the parents and the remaining four applicants are the siblings of Mr Servet Arslan, who was born in 1971 and killed in 1994. The applicants were represented before the Court by Mr...
SECOND SECTION DECISION Application no. 35880/05 by Fatma ARSLAN and Others against Turkey The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 24 May 2011 as a Committee composed of: David Thór Björgvinsson, President, Giorgio Malinverni, Guido Raimondi, judges, and Françoise Elens Passos, Deputy Section Registrar, Having regard to the above application lodged on 30 September 2005, Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case, Having deliberated, decides as follows: PROCEDURE The applicants, Mr Mustafa Arslan, Mrs Fatma Arslan, Mr Murat Arslan, Ms Deniz Arslan, Ms Derya Bicolar and Ms Dilek Demir are Turkish nationals who were born in 1940, 1941, 1965, 1977, 1969 and 1974 respectively and live in Diyarbakır. The first two applicants are the parents and the remaining four applicants are the siblings of Mr Servet Arslan, who was born in 1971 and killed in 1994. The applicants were represented before the Court by Mr Tahir Elçi, Mr Burhan Deyar and Ms Habibe Danışman Deyar, lawyers practising in Diyarbakır. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.
2 ARSLAN AND OTHERS v. TURKEY DECISION The circumstances of the case The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. On 5 September 1994 the first applicant submitted a request to the Diyarbakır public prosecutor and informed the prosecutor that his son Servet had been missing since 4 September 1994. He asked the prosecutor to search for his son. The same day he gave a police officer the description of his son and information about his son’s last known movements on 4 September 1994. The following day the second applicant also gave information to a police officer about her son Servet’s movements on 4 September. On 7 September 1994 the bodies of Servet Arslan and a certain Şahabettin Latifeci were found by villagers at the side of a road near a village located within the administrative jurisdiction of Diyarbakır. Both deceased had been gagged and their hands tied. There were extensive injuries and burns on the bodies. Both deceased had their identity cards in their trouser pockets. It was concluded that they had been killed somewhere else. The same day an examination of the bodies was carried out by a doctor and a prosecutor, who concluded that the two men had been ill-treated and strangled. On 20 September 1994 the first applicant made a statement in Diyarbakır Gendarmerie Headquarters. He asked for those responsible for the killing of his son to be arrested and prosecuted. In 1996 information regarding the killings and their perpetrators were published in a report prepared by an investigatory commission of the Grand National Assembly. On 29 March 2005 the Diyarbakır prosecutor filed an indictment with the Diyarbakır Assize Court and accused Abdulkadir Aygan, Mahmut Yıldırım, Abdulkerim Kırca, Muhsin Gül, Fethi Çetin, Kemal Emlük, Saniye Emlük and Yüksel Uğ...