GÜLEÇ JUDGMENT OF 27 JULY 1998
(s)
27
Emin Aslan (present in İdil at the material time)
48. Mr Aslan stated that he had taken part in the demonstration. He had
seen the Panzer fire at the crowd from a distance of about 150 to 200
metres. The demonstrators had separated into two groups, but the firing had
continued and he had received a bullet wound.
As regards the circumstances of Ahmet Güleç’s death, he had not been
near him but about 400 to 500 metres away. He had seen a large Panzer and
a small one. He had seen the large Panzer fire at the crowd without prior
warning. He had been treated in secret after the incident by a doctor. More
than fifty people who had been injured did not go to see a doctor for fear of
being arrested.
II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW
49. Article 125 of the Turkish Constitution Turkey provides:
“All acts or decisions of the administration are subject to judicial review...
The administration shall be liable to indemnify any damage caused by its own acts
and measures.”
The above provision is not subject to any restrictions, even in a state of
emergency or war. The second paragraph does not necessarily require proof
of the existence of any fault on the part of the administration, whose
responsibility is of an absolute, objective nature, based on the theory of
“social risk”. Thus the administration may indemnify people who have
suffered damage from acts committed by unidentified persons where the
State may be said to have failed in its duty to safeguard individual life and
property.
50. Under the Turkish Criminal Code, torture and ill-treatment are
criminal offences (Articles 243 and 245 deal with torture and ill-treatment
inflicted by civil servants respectively).
51. Under Articles 151 and 153 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
complaints may be lodged with the public prosecutor or the local
administrative authorities. The public prosecutor and the police have a duty
to investigate crimes reported to them, the former deciding whether a
prosecution should be initiated, pursuant to Article 148 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure. A complainant may also appeal against a decision not
to institute criminal proceedings.