Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1993-1997 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
11 files
Context area
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Materials pertaining to the cases filed by Özcan Aslan and İzzet Aslan against the Republic of Turkey with the European Commission of Human Rights (application numbers 22491/93 and 22497/93; referred to internally within the Kurdish Litigation Project as Cases 41 and 45 and respectively assigned to Françoise Hampson and Bill Bowring as leads).
On 13 February 1993, about 300 soldiers and special teams connected to Çinar Gendarme Post entered the village of Çınarönü, Savin District, Mardin Province. They forced the men of the village, including İzzet Aslan, İzzet’s six nephews, his three brothers (including Ömer Aslan), and three brothers-in-law, to gather in the village square and lie down in the snow overnight until morning. As the men lay in the square, they were beaten by the soldiers and special teams while Ömer's house was burned, using words such as ‘We set fire to your house this time, if you continue to assist the terrorists, we shall set you alight next time’. The following morning, İzzet’s son Özcan Aslan and İzzet’s nephew Şerif Aslan were watching over sheep in the mountains when a group of 50 soldiers encountered them and sked them 'which way the terrorists had gone'. Upon stating that they had not seen any terrorists, the boys were stripped naked in the snow, threatened with sexual violation, and beaten severely for 20-30 minutes. Özcan developed chronic bronchitis as a result.
On 22 May 1997, the Commission decided to strike the application out of its list of cases due to a lack of cooperation from İzzet Aslan and the inability to locate Özcan Aslan, and issued a report under Article 30 paragraph 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The files in this sub-sub-series are equivalent to Tabs 1 through 10 in Françoise Hampson's filing system, plus an untabbed section comprising documents found at the front of the original containing binder.