File 21 - Resika Çabuk and Yaşar Cerf

2 items

Materials pertaining to the application filed by Resika Çabuk and Yaşar Cerf on 31 March 1995 against the Republic of Turkey with the European Commission of Human Rights (referred to internally within the Kurdish Litigation Project as Case 211 and assigned to Kevin Boyle as lead) regarding the killing of Sefer Cerf, leader of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) for Yüreğir District in Adana Province, and the wounding of his friend, HADEP Management Committee member Rebih Çabuk, when the two were fired upon at a café on 3 October 1994. The applicants accused the state of covering up the incident and noted that Ahmet Dizman (also an applicant to the Commission; see A44/43/6/29), who attempted to take Rebih Çabuk to hospital, was abducted by police the following day, tortured, and had his jaw broken with a gun butt. Rebih Çabuk died en route to hospital.
Sait Macir, also a board member of HADEP, was inside the café at the time 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).
The Essex team ultimately did not litigate the case, and the domestic investigation into the murders continued until 2013. Yaşar Cerf filed a new application (12938/07) on 15 March 2007 following conclusion of the domestic investigation. On 3 May 2016, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that there had been a violation of Article 2 of the Convention in its procedural aspect. The applicant was awarded €20,000 in damages and €3,000 in legal costs and expenses. The full judgment is available for viewing at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/?i=001-162419