KURT JUDGMENT OF 25 MAY 1998 25 92. The Government criticised the Commission for not having given due weight to the evidence of other villagers who had confirmed that Üzeyir Kurt had not been detained in the village as alleged (see paragraph 38 above). Hasan Kılıç in particular had clearly affirmed when questioned that Üzeyir Kurt left his house in the company of the applicant and that there were no security forces outside the house at the relevant time (see paragraph 38 above). They regretted the Commission’s unwillingness to give serious consideration to the official view that there might have been PKK involvement in his disappearance. That view had support in the statements of the villagers who had been questioned by the authorities (see paragraph 38 above). 93. For the above reasons the Government maintained that it had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt that the applicant had seen her son in the circumstances alleged and his disappearance could not therefore engage their responsibility. 2. The Court’s assessment 94. The Court notes at the outset that it clearly emerges from paragraphs 159–79 of its Article 31 report that the Commission meticulously addressed the discrepancies in the applicant’s account as well as each of the Government’s counter-arguments. 95. As an independent fact-finding body confronted with an allegation which rests essentially on the eyewitness evidence of the complainant alone, the Commission paid particular regard to the applicant’s credibility and to the accuracy of her recollection of the events on the morning of 25 November 1993. It is to be observed that at the hearing in Ankara she was questioned extensively on her account by the delegates and by the lawyers appearing for the Government. While there were marked inconsistencies between the statement she gave to the Diyarbakır Human Rights Association (see paragraph 50 above) and her oral account before the delegates, the applicant was steadfast in all her contacts with the authorities in her assertion that she had seen her son surrounded by soldiers and village guards in the village. 96. In the Court’s view, the Commission properly assessed all the evidence before it, weighing in the balance the elements which supported the applicant’s account and those which cast doubt on either its credibility or plausibility. Even though Hasan Kılıç did not respond to the Commission’s summons to appear before the delegates, his statement, which the Government consider as central to their case, was carefully scrutinised by the Commission alongside the applicant’s testimony (see paragraph 50 above). Significantly, Mr Kılıç’s account was found to be flawed in material respects and his non-appearance meant that, unlike the applicant’s testimony, neither his credibility as a witness nor the probative