File 30 - Sultan Dölek

6 items

Materials pertaining to the application that was to be filed on 20 December 1995 by Sultan Dölek against the Republic of Turkey with the European Commission of Human Rights (application number 39541/98, referred to internally within the Kurdish Litigation Project as Case 225) regarding the murder of her husband, Mustafa Hacı Dölek, by members of the Turkish military at their home on 24 June 1995.
According to the applicant, at around 5:00 or 6:00 a.m., three members of the Special Intervention Force rang their doorbell while the whole family was asleep. She opened the door, and the officers said they were going to conduct a search and asked her to call her husband. He arrived at the entrance, and the officers entered the hall. As the applicant stepped away, at least two shots were fired. The applicant saw her husband on the floor, shot in the chest and leg; he died instantly. The officers left the house and called the applicant outside, then beat her. They threatened to kill her and her children, who had woken up in the meantime, if she filed a complaint. They then carried the deceased's body to their vehicle, telling the applicant that her husband was not dead and that they were taking him to the Kahramanmaraş Civil Hospital.
According to the Government, following reports that seven armed individuals had been seen in the village, law enforcement conducted an operation. They searched several homes in the village, including that of the applicant. After she opened the door and as the officers began the search, Mustafa Hacı Dölek attempted to seize the service weapon of Officer SA. During the ensuing struggle, the weapon discharged and injured him. The officers transported him to the hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries before arriving.
No application form was ultimately submitted under the purview of the Kurdish Litigation Project. On 4 April 1997, Kevin Boyle and Françoise Hampson withdrew as legal representatives in the case. On 2 September 2007, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that there had been no violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. The full judgment is available for viewing at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/?i=001-82517
Materials in the file include a statement and letter of legal authorisation from the applicant, Boyle and Hampson’s notice to the Commission that an application is forthcoming, and Boyle and Hampson’s notice of withdrawal from the case. Correspondence from the Commission is closed to access until 1 November 2073.

Correspondence from the European Commission of Human Rights is closed to access until 1 November 2073.

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