ERGI JUDGMENT OF 28 JULY 1998 23 decreased to twenty (see paragraph 15 above). In contrast, Mr Ergi himself, the real Mr Ergi, had stated to the delegates that between 150 and 200 families were living in the village. There could then be no question of, as asserted by the applicant, hasty and forced evacuation of villagers following indiscriminate and arbitrary bombardment of the village (see paragraph 37 above). Furthermore, the speculation over the contents of the so-called declarations and statements by the Ergani gendarmerie commander also proved to be incorrect. No member of the Ergi family had gone to Ergani on 29 or 30 September 1993. As was clearly established during the hearing in February 1996, the Ergani gendarmerie had heard of Havva Ergi’s death by telephone. 2. The Court’s assessment (a) As to the alleged unlawful killing of the applicant’s sister 77. The Court observes that there are divergent versions as to the circumstances which led to the killing of the applicant’s sister. While the applicant maintained that it was the result of a retaliatory operation by the security forces against the village, the Government asserted that there had been a clash between those forces and the PKK around the village and that the bullet which had killed her had not originated from the military side (see paragraphs 9–17 above). The Commission considered that there was insufficient material before it to support a finding that the operation of 29 September 1993 had not been an ambush leading to a clash but an act of retaliation and was also unable to find it established that the bullet which had killed Havva Ergi had been fired by the security forces. The Commission considered that it had little direct evidence as to what had occurred on the night in question. None of the four witnesses, including the applicant, who had appeared at the hearing before the delegates, had directly witnessed the alleged event (see paragraph 35 above). The village muhtar and a number of members of the applicant’s family summoned by the Commission had failed to appear (see paragraph 27 above). Furthermore, the Commission found that the documentary evidence presented to it had been of second-hand quality (see paragraph 36 above). 78. The Court notes that, in challenging the Commission’s findings, the applicant laid much stress on the inferences that could be drawn from the Government’s failure to provide evidence. However, having regard to the Commission’s fact-finding and to its own careful examination of the evidence, the Court considers that there are legitimate doubts as to the origin of the bullet which killed Havva Ergi and the context of the firing. It