Item 1 - Correspondence, Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor and Diyarbakır Police Headquarters, 28.12.94-15.3.99

11pp

English translations of correspondence between the Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor and Diyarbakır Police Headquarters pertaining to the disappearance and killing of Abdulkadir Çelikbilek submitted by the Turkish Government to the European Court of Human Rights. The correspondence covers the period 28 December 1994 and 15 March 1999, showing little meaningful progress in the investigation. According to the Court's judgment of 31 May 2005, 'As regards the subsequent investigation carried out by the Prosecutor, the Court observes that no meaningful steps were taken, according to the documents submitted to the Convention bodies. The investigation consisted of, and was limited to, the autopsy and the taking of statements from the applicant and the wife of the deceased. The Court notes that the investigation will be ongoing until the expiry of the statutory limitation period in 2014. However, so far, this part of the investigation seems to have been limited to a number of letters exchanged between the Prosecutor and the police, with the latter regularly stating, in standard terms, that they are still searching for the perpetrators. In the absence of any information in these letters about the actual steps which have been or are being taken, the Court finds that they cannot be taken as proof of any meaningful investigation.' Copies of the original Turkish correspondence are found at (A44/43/1/21/6/1).

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