KURT JUDGMENT OF 25 MAY 1998
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on the evidence that village guards were in the village at some time during
the operation, contrary to the apparent operational practice whereby the role
of village guards should be restricted to areas outside villages other than
their own.
53. The Commission found that it was the applicant’s genuine and
honestly held belief that her son was taken into custody by the security
forces after which he “disappeared” and that there was no basis for inferring
that the applicant’s testimony was influenced by a reluctance to accord
blame to the PKK or to acknowledge their involvement. Having regard to
the assessment of the evidence before it, the Commission accepted her
evidence that she saw him surrounded by soldiers and village guards outside
Hasan Kılıç’s house on the morning of 25 November 1993. It found that this
was the last time he was seen by any member of his family or person from
the village.
(c) Other aspects of the conduct of the operation
54. The Commission found it unnecessary to make any findings as to the
cause of the burning of the applicant’s house or as to the role, if any, played
by the security forces in the decision of the villagers to abandon the village
(see paragraph 14 above).
II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE
55. The Government have not submitted in their memorial any details on
domestic legal provisions which have a bearing on the circumstances of the
case. The Commission in its Article 31 report provided an overview of
domestic law and practice which may be of relevance to the case. This
overview was based on submissions by the respondent State in previous
cases.
A. Constitutional provisions on administrative liability
56. Article 125 of the Turkish Constitution provides as follows:
“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.”
57. This provision is not subject to any restrictions even in a state of
emergency or war. The latter requirement of the provision does not
necessarily require proof of the existence of any fault on the part of the
administration, whose liability is of an absolute, objective nature, based on
the theory of “social risk”. Thus the administration may indemnify people