The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 28 September 2006 as a Chamber composed of: Mr B.M. ZUPANČIČ, President, Mr J. HEDIGAN, Mr R. TÜRMEN, Mr C. BÎRSAN, Mr V. ZAGREBELSKY, Mrs A. GYULUMYAN, Mr DAVID THÓR BJÖRGVINSSON, judges, and Mr V. BERGER, Section Registrar, Having regard to the above application lodged on 7 December 2000, Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together. Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants, Having deliberated, decides as follows: THE FACTS The applicants, Mrs Kazel Yıldız, Mr Sedat Yıldız, Mr Polat Yıldız and Mr Ali Yıldız, are Turkish nationals and live in Elazığ. They are represented before the Court by Mr C. Zülfikar, Mr K. Çetin and Mr M. Gündoğdu,...
CONSEIL DE L’EUROPE COUNCIL OF EUROPE COUR EUROPÉENNE DES DROITS DE L’HOMME EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS THIRD SECTION DECISION AS TO THE ADMISSIBILITY OF Application no. 34542/03 by Kazel YILDIZ and Others against Turkey The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 28 September 2006 as a Chamber composed of: Mr B.M. ZUPANČIČ, President, Mr J. HEDIGAN, Mr R. TÜRMEN, Mr C. BÎRSAN, Mr V. ZAGREBELSKY, Mrs A. GYULUMYAN, Mr DAVID THÓR BJÖRGVINSSON, judges, and Mr V. BERGER, Section Registrar, Having regard to the above application lodged on 7 December 2000, Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together. Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants, Having deliberated, decides as follows: THE FACTS The applicants, Mrs Kazel Yıldız, Mr Sedat Yıldız, Mr Polat Yıldız and Mr Ali Yıldız, are Turkish nationals and live in Elazığ. They are represented before the Court by Mr C. Zülfikar, Mr K. Çetin and Mr M. Gündoğdu, lawyers practising in Elazığ.
2 KAZEL YILDIZ AND OTHERS v. TURKEY DECISION A. The circumstances of the case The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 1. The applicants’ version of the facts a) Circumstances surrounding the death of Arslan Yıldız On 13 October 1994 Arslan Yıldız, the first applicant’s husband and the brother of Polat Yıldız and Ali Yıldız, was taken into custody by gendarme officers. On 5 November 1994 Arslan Yıldız’s corpse was found in the vicinity of the neighbouring Bilekli village along with the corpse of Müslüm Kavut, an inhabitant of Bilekli. Both of the bodies bore firearm injuries. On an unspecified date, Kazel Yıldız and Ali Hıdır Yıldız, son of Kazel Yıldız, lodged petitions with the Hozat public prosecutor requesting an investigation into the death of Arslan Yıldız. On 4 January 1995 the Hozat public prosecutor issued a decision of non jurisdiction ratione loci and transferred the investigation file to the Ovacık Public Prosecutor who forwarded it to the Military Prosecutor’s office in Ankara. On 29 September 1997 the Military Prosecutor attached to the Gendarmerie Headquarters in Ankara also issued a decision of non-jurisdiction ratione materiae. The case-file was then sent to the Public Prosecutor’s office attached to the Malatya State Security Court. On 17 April 2000 Kazel Yıldız filed a petition with the public prosecutor’s office in Hozat and requested information concerning the investigation into her husband’s death. She did not receive any response to her petition. On 31 July 2000 Kazel Yıldız lodged a further petition with the Ministry of the Interior and requested compensation for the damage she had suffered on account of her husband’s death. She also requested that an investigation be initiated into Arslan Yıldız’s death. In a letter of 16 September 20...