Abdurrahim Incedursun v. the Netherlands [GC]

Information Note on the Court’s case-law 7

June 1999

Abdurrahim Incedursun v. the Netherlands [GC] - 33124/96

Judgment 22.6.1999 [GC]

Article 3

Expulsion

Expulsion to Turkey: friendly settlement

The applicant entered the Netherlands on 5 June 1995 and, on 7 June 1995, requested asylum or, alternatively, a residence permit on humanitarian grounds. He claimed that he was at risk of political persecution in Turkey owing to his known sympathy with the Kurdish cause. He claimed to have been politically active at municipal level between 1984 and 1992 and that his brother I. was a nationally-known public figure. He said he had been detained and ill-treated on several occasions in 1992. Lastly, he stated that since 1992 he had been living in hiding under false identities, moving from place to place in Turkey, and that his brother I. had “disappeared”.

The Minister of State at the Department of Justice rejected the applicant’s requests on the ground that it had not been established that he had substantial grounds to fear persecution in Turkey. The applicant filed an objection against this decision with the Minister. In March 1996 the president of the Aliens Division of the Regional Court of The Hague rejected the applicant’s request for an interim order allowing him to remain in the Netherlands to await the outcome of the objection proceedings. At the same time, the president dealt with the objection itself, dismissing it as ill-founded.

The applicant requested the Minister to review his decision, a request which was rejected in August 1996. The applicant filed an objection to this refusal, together with a fresh request for interim relief, both of which were dismissed by the president of the Aliens Division, who found the objection to be ill-founded.

By way of settlement of the case, the Government have declared their willingness to grant the applicant an unrestricted residence permit and to pay him the ex gratia sum of NLG 21,480 plus VAT to cover the legal costs incurred by him in the proceedings before the Convention organs (less the amount already received by him under the legal aid scheme). The Government stipulate that the settlement should in no way be interpreted as an acknowledgement by them that a violation of the Convention would have occurred if the applicant had been deported to Turkey.”

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This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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