Sub-sub-series 45 - İzzet Matyar

1 file

Materials pertaining to the case filed by İzzet Matyar on 24 January 1994 against the Republic of Turkey with the European Commission of Human Rights (application number 23423/94, referred to internally within the Kurdish Litigation Project as Case 77 and assigned to Kevin Boyle as lead, later succeeded by Philip Lynch) regarding the damage and destruction caused to his home and property by security forces during an armed attack in the hamlet of Basoğ, Ormanici village, Silvan District, Şırnak Province on 24 July 1993. Mehmet Safi Aranacak (Case 76) was originally listed as a co-applicant, but the complaints introduced on his behalf were struck out as had died on 13 January 1994 before the application was lodged and the applicant’s representatives had been unable to contact his widow with a view to her continuing any complaints. Supplementary materials pertaining to this case are located at A44/43/6/60.
On 24 July 1993, the applicant’s village was subject to an armed attack by village guards supported by a helicopter gunship under the direction of the Silvan Gendarme Headquarters and gendarmes from Bayrambası. According to Matyar, his house was damaged as follows: the walls were riddled with bullets and all the windows were broken; the 3-ton diesel tank attached to the back of the tractor had been pierced by bullets and all the diesel had poured out; the tank had caught fire because of the bullets; two barrels full of diesel, a tractor trailer and the wheels of the trailer were riddled with bullets; his tractor, irrigation pump and 110 irrigation pipes had been destroyed by bullets; 200 sacks in front of the house had also been burned; four tons of harvested wheat, two tons of barley and two lorryloads of straw had been burned, a whole year’s labour. The Silvan district gendarme captain drew up a report stating that there had been a clash between terrorists and village guards and had villagers sign it.
Matyar continued to live in his house for about a year. He was summoned a year after the incident to the Bayrambası gendarme station and detained there by the commander who was angry with him for staying in Gom. The commander summoned his son Burhan and told him that the applicant would not be released unless he burned down the house. Burhan burned the house and the applicant was released. Matyar was later told by a gendarme at Bayrambası that the gendarmes had taken photographs of the burned house. The Silvan district gendarme commander had been angry as he wanted photographs of a house in good condition. The gendarmes had then come and taken photographs of the applicant in front of his son’s house.
On 29 September 1994, Matyar was summoned to the Silvan Gendarmerie where he allegedly counter-signed a report by sergeant Ömer Temel and gendarme private Ibrahim Bilgin. This was sent to the Silvan chief public prosecutor by Captain Aksel. On 30 September 1994, the applicant signed a statement by the Silvan public prosecutor. On being informed that he had made an application to the Commission, the public prosecutor questioned him with a view to initiating an investigation. In this statement, Matyar mentioned that none of his possessions had been burned and stated that he did not make any complaint about this.
The Silvan public prosecutor opened an investigation into Matyar’s prior complaints. On 3 October 1994, a decision was taken that due to lack of evidence the investigation could not be pursued. The European Court of Human Rights ultimately determined that it was not possible to reach any findings as to when the applicant’s house was destroyed and by whom. On 21 February 2002, the Court ruled that no violations of the European Convention of Human Rights had occurred. The full judgment is available for viewing at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/?i=001-60156.

The files in this sub-sub-series are equivalent to Tabs 1 through 4 in the Essex legal team's filing system.