ERGI JUDGMENT OF 28 JULY 1998 5 the houses. It could only have been fired from the south or south-east from higher ground, which was where the security forces were stationed on a hillside. 15. There had been no communication between the public prosecutor and the family since the day of the autopsy. He and his family remained in the dark as to the official view of the incident and did not know whether there had been any investigation or prosecution in respect of the shooting. He stated that the village of 200 households had now been reduced to twenty families, the rest having abandoned their homes as a result of military incidents such as the one which led to his sister’s death. B. The Government’s version of the facts 16. The security forces carried out an ambush operation in the vicinity of the village to catch the PKK members who were active in the area. Units were concealed in the north-west and engaged in an armed clash with the PKK at a point to the south-east of the village, near the cemetery. Their position was 100 metres above the PKK. There were no units positioned to the south and there would have been no point in having men there since the PKK would not come from the south. The security forces could not therefore have fired the shot from the south which killed the applicant’s sister. 17. During the clash, only a few houses were slightly damaged, which does not support the allegations of prolonged, indiscriminate firing by the security forces. C. Proceedings before the domestic authorities 18. A preliminary investigation into the incident was opened by the public prosecutor of the Ergani district. An autopsy was carried out on the applicant’s sister on 30 September 1993 in his father’s house. According to the medical examiner’s report of that date, an external examination disclosed a bullet wound to the head, probably an entry wound. The skull was opened and a 7.62 mm bullet found in the right parietal lobe and removed. Time of death was estimated at about ten to twelve hours prior to the examination. 19. In a letter dated 7 October 1993 addressed to the Ergani public prosecutor, gendarmerie major Ahmet Kuzu reported that the security forces had carried out an ambush at the entrance of Kesentaş village. The security forces opened fire on terrorists, who fled towards the northerly part of the village and a search party was sent in that direction without making