Sub-sub-series 43 - Hayriye Kişmir

5 files

Materials pertaining to the case filed by Hayriye Kişmir on 31 March 1995 against the Republic of Turkey with the European Commission of Human Rights (application number 27306/95, referred to internally within the Kurdish Litigation Project as Case 169 and assigned to Françoise Hampson as lead, later replaced by Philip Leach and then by Mark Muller of the Kurdish Human Rights Project) regarding the torture and murder of her son, Aydın Kişmir, while imprisoned in Diyarbakır in October 1994. Supplementary materials pertaining to this case are located at A44/43/6/56.
On 6 October 1994, at approximately 1:30 a.m., seven police officers from the Diyarbakır Police Headquarters visited the home of the applicant in Diyarbakır, inquiring about her son Aydın's whereabouts. Aydın had been taken into police custody on 26 August 1993, detained on remand from 8 September, and released on 10 November 1993. Fearing police re-arrest, Aydın was hiding at his relative Barış Kalkan's house. Aware of his fears, the applicant informed the police that Aydın had travelled to Istanbul. The police questioned the applicant's other sons, İrfan and Turan, who corroborated her statement about Aydın's whereabouts. The officers searched the house, confiscating some German marks. Five police officers left with İrfan and Turan, while the two remaining officers continued to question the applicant and her daughter, Saniye, until the next morning. The applicant's husband, Mersin, returned home that morning, and the police remained for two days, forcing him to sign a document after their second day of questioning.
İrfan and Turan were taken to Police Headquarters, interrogated for an hour and a half about Aydın, and subsequently examined at the Diyarbakır State Hospital before being questioned further about Aydın. İrfan revealed his acquaintance with Barış, providing the police with his address, leading the officers to Barış's home, accompanied by İrfan.
On 6 October 1994, Barış’s mother spotted police vehicles outside her building, warning Aydın. Attempting to escape, Aydın and Barış were captured by the police while fleeing to the roof. While Aydın was taken downstairs, he tried to escape again. Witnessing the confrontation, Barış and Yılmaz (Barış's brother) heard threats against Aydın's life from police officers, although others contradicted this, stating they needed Aydın for interrogation. Aydın was restrained, handcuffed, and a gun was placed to his head; İrfan observed Aydın being beaten, with blood visible and screams audible. The police transported Aydın with Yılmaz and Barış to Police Headquarters, where they received medical checks before being returned. During the ride, Yılmaz overheard police stating that Aydın had claimed he would be killed and that they would show him death was not easy. Aydın's torture initiated upon arrival at Police Headquarters; İrfan heard Aydın's pleas for mercy, stating that he could neither walk nor clap his hands due to the torture he was experiencing.
Yılmaz remained imprisoned in a cell, hearing Aydın's screams, as well as threats from police regarding future torture. An hour of torture ensued, after which Aydın was seen being dragged away by policemen. On 7 October 1994, Yılmaz was interrogated regarding Aydın's alleged affiliation with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and the circumstances under which Aydın stayed with Barış. By 8 October 1994, Yılmaz, unaware of his statement's content, signed a document written by police and was coerced into denying torture during another medical check-up. Both İrfan and Yılmaz reported the situation to the applicant, informing her of Aydın’s dire state. Consequently, the applicant sought help from the Human Rights Association and submitted a request for information about Aydın to the Prosecutor’s office.
On 11 October, police returned to the applicant's house, suggesting that Aydın had died, and she was told to retrieve his body. On 12 October, after initially denying knowledge of Aydın’s whereabouts, police eventually admitted his body was at the morgue but refused the applicant access to it. The Prosecutor claimed Aydın had committed suicide by jumping from a seventh-floor window. The family suspected foul play, believing Aydın had been murdered by police. Aydın's death certificate noted he passed away on 12 October, with an autopsy performed that day, but the applicant was denied the report as it was allegedly sent to Ankara. Aydın was buried on 13 October 1994.
On 31 May 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously that there had been violations of Article 2, 3, 13, and 38 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Turkish Government was ordered to pay Aydın Kişmir’s estate €30,000 in non-pecuniary damages, and to pay Hayriye Kişmir €3,500 in non-pecuniary damages and €15,000 in legal costs and expenses (less €880 received in legal aid). The full judgment is available for viewing at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/?i=001-69206.

The files in this sub-sub-series are equivalent to Tabs 1 through 5 in the Essex legal team's filing system.