File 29 - Ahmet Dizman

11 items

Materials pertaining to the application filed by Ahmet Dizman on 31 March 1995 against the Republic of Turkey with the European Commission of Human Rights (application 27309/95, referred to internally within the Kurdish Litigation Project as Case 160 and assigned to Kevin Boyle as lead) regarding the murder of her husband, Mustafa Hacı Dölek, by members of a Turkish military 'special action team' at their home. On 3 October 1994, Sefer Cerf, leader of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) for Yüreğir District in Adana Province, and his friend, HADEP Management Committee member Rebih Çabuk, were fired upon at a café in Yüreğir. Cerf was killed immediately (the application of the victims' spouses is at A44/43/6/21). Ahmet Dizman attempted to take Rebih Çabuk to hospital; Rebih Çabuk died en route to hospital. The following day, Dizman was abducted by police and forced into a vehicle. The car drove in the direction of Kabaktepe and stopped in a deserted field. The applicant was taken out of the car. As soon as he got out, the police officers started to punch and kick him and to beat him with the butts of their guns, breaking his jaw. The police officers told the applicant that they had seen him at the funeral of Sefer Cerf and Rebih Çabuk the day before. They threatened him and told him that if he continued to be involved in such activities, his end would be like those of the dead HADEP members. The police officers questioned Dizman about a number of local people. The applicant was also forced to report the activities of local shopkeepers, who were allegedly selling the newspaper Özgür Ülke, a pro-Kurdish newspaper, and who were collecting money, presumably for the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party). Dizman was threatened that if he did not report the political activities of these shopkeepers regularly, he would be killed.
Sait Macir, also a board member of HADEP, was inside the café at the time of the shooting and went outside to help the two victims. He told the authorities that he had seen the two assailants running away from the scene. Macir was taken to a police station on the pretext of giving a statement but was instead questioned about his relationship with Sefer Cerf. His café was closed by the police and he was subjected to continuous harassment after the incident. On 30 December 1994 Macir was himself shot and killed outside the same café (see A44/43/6/59).
On 7 March 2000, Kevin Boyle withdrew as legal representative in the case. Litigation was ultimately handled by Anke Stock of the Kurdish Human Rights Project. On 20 September 2005 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that there had been violations of Article 3 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The applicant was awarded €5,000 in pecuniary damages, €15,000 in non-pecuniary damages, and €8,000 in legal costs and expenses. The full judgment is available for viewing at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/?i=001-70162
Materials in the file available for viewing include the 31 March 1995 application of Ahmet Dizman to the European Commission of Human Rights, the reply of the applicant to the Government’s observation on the application, domestic investigation documents submitted by the Turkish Government to the Court, the European Court of Human Rights’ decision on the admissibility of the application (the full decision is available for viewing at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-5104), correspondence from the Court, Kevin Boyle’s personal schedule of fees incurred, and the letter of 7 March 2000 from Kevin Boyle informing the Court that he is withdrawing as legal representative in the case. The Government’s observations of 16 April 1996 are closed to access until 1 November 2073.

The Turkish Government’s observations of 16 April 1996 are closed to access until 1 November 2073.

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