File 44 - Abdurrazak İkincisoy and Halil İkincisoy

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Supplementary materials pertaining to the case filed by Abdurrazak İkincisoy and his son Halil İkincisoy on 19 May 1995 against the Republic of Turkey with the European Commission of Human Rights (application number 26144/95, referred to internally within the Kurdish Litigation Project as Case 87 and assigned to Kevin Boyle as lead) regarding the death of Abdurrazak’s son Mehmet Şah İkincisoy following his arrest on 22 November 1993. Materials available for viewing from this file include the statements of Abdurrazak İkincisoy and Halil İkincisoy; supplementary information about the İkincisoy family provided by the Diyarbakır Branch of the Human Rights Association; letters of legal authorisation provided by the İkincisoys; and an internal information dossier and statement of case facts compiled by the Kurdish Litigation Projects. Domestic investigation documents submitted by the Turkish Government are closed for access until 1 November 2073. Materials from the main casefile are located at A44/43/1/36.
On 22 November 1993 at 1 a.m., plain-clothes police officers arrived at Abdurrazak İkincisoy's apartment in Diyarbakır seeking his son, Mehmet Şah İkincisoy. Abdurrazak informed them that Mehmet Şah was at his uncle Abdülkadir's apartment. They left Halil İkincisoy with Abdurrazak and took Halil to find Mehmet. Upon reaching Abdülkadir's apartment, police conducted a search and identified several family members present, including Mehmet Şah and his friends. During an interrogation, a gunshot was heard from the room and an armed clash broke out between the police officers and the two men. The police officer who was interrogating the two men was shot dead. When the shooting started, the second police officer grabbed Mehmet Şah by his arm and dragged him downstairs. Halil and the others saw the two men try to escape. They heard further gunshots from downstairs. The group subsequently learnt that one of the men had died, the other had escaped, and the officer who was waiting outside the building had been wounded. About ten minutes later, police teams arrived, arresting Halil and other İkincisoy family members, taking them to Çarşı Police Station. There, Halil saw his brother's body on the floor. The rest of the family was also arrested and taken to the station. They were instructed to cover their heads, but Abdurrazak glimpsed his son. Later, they were moved to the Rapid Intervention Headquarters, where they heard Mehmet Şah's cries. The Government claimed that the police sought Mehmet Şah based on information of his involvement with the PKK. They reported armed struggles that resulted in police being shot, linking retrieved firearms to the earlier incident. An autopsy eventually confirmed the identity of a deceased individual as Mehmet Şah.
Abdurrazak was held until 25 November 1995 and pressured to state his son had fled. Halil was released on 3 December 1993. Abdurrazak went to the prosecutor on 6 December reporting his concerns for Mehmet Şah’s fate. He identified his son’s body in photographs and learned he died on 25 November 1993 during a police clash. Abdurrazak was denied permission to open the grave for an autopsy, and subsequent petitions for investigation were hindered, with government denial of Mehmet's custody. After his application to the Commission, Abdurrazak was questioned by prosecutors on 6 June 1995 and compelled to retract his statement. Thereafter, he went to the Diyarbakır Branch of the Human Rights Association and informed them about this incident.
On 27 July 2004, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled: that there had been a violation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding Mehmet Şah İkincisoy's death the failure to conduct an effective investigations into its circumstances; that there had been violations of Articles 5 § 3, 5 § 4, 5 § 5 with regards to Halil İkincisoy; that there had been a violation of Article 13, and that Turkey failed to comply with its obligations under former Article 25 § 1. The Court unanimously ruled: that there had not been violations of Article 5 §§ 1, 3, 4 and 5 of the Convention with regard to Abdurrazak İkincisoy; no violations of Article 5 §§ 1 with regard to Halil İkincisoy; and no violations of Article 3, 8, 9, and 14. The Turkish Government was ordered to pay Mehmet Şah İkincisoy’s heirs €25,000 in pecuniary damages, €3,500 to Abdurrazak İkincisoy in non-pecuniary damages, €7,500 to Halil İkincisoy in non-pecuniary damages, and €15,000 in legal costs and expenses. The full judgment is available for viewing at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/?i=001-61940
Throughout much of the material, including the original version of the judgment, Abdurrazak İkincisoy is referred to as ‘Abdülrezzak İkincisoy’.

Domestic investigation documents submitted by the Turkish Government are closed for access until 1 November 2073.

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