SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 37161/05
by İffet ZUĞURLİ and Others
against Turkey
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 6 July 2010 as a Chamber composed of:
Françoise Tulkens, President,
Ireneu Cabral Barreto,
Danutė Jočienė,
András Sajó,
Nona Tsotsoria,
Işıl Karakaş,
Kristina Pardalos, judges,
and Stanley Naismith, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 30 September 2005,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicants, Mrs İsmet Zuğurli, Ms Fatma Zuğurli, Ms Mekye Zuğurli, Ms Zülyazan Zuğurli, Ms Firuze Zuğurli, Mr Dara Zuğurli, Ms Nihal Zuğurli, Mr Hayrullah Zuğurli, Mr İdris Zuğurli, Mr Mesut Zuğurli and Mrs İffet Zuğurli are Turkish nationals who were born in 1930, 1962, 1964, 1960, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1973, 1978, 1979 and 1951 respectively and live in Diyarbakır. The applicants are the close relatives of Mr Lokman Zuğurli and Mr Zana Zuğurli who were born in 1977 and 1975 respectively and were killed in 1993. The applicants were represented before the Court by Ms Habibe Danışman Deyar, Mr Burhan Deyar and Mr Tahir Elçi, lawyers practising in Diyarbakır. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.
The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
On 10 October and 11 October 1993 the bodies of Lokman Zuğurli and Zana Zuğurli were found in locations within the administrative jurisdiction of Diyarbakır. They had been shot in the head in the places where their bodies were found. It was subsequently established that both men had been killed with bullets fired from the same pistol.
On 3 February 2003 the investigation files in respect of the two killings were joined.
On 11 March 2004 the lawyer for the families of the deceased submitted a letter to the prosecutor's office. She informed the prosecutor that for the last four days a national newspaper had been publishing details of the killings, which had been given to them by a certain Mr Abdulkadir Aygan who worked for the security forces. According to Mr Aygan, the killings had been carried out with the involvement of Abdulkerim Kırca, Muhsin Gül, Saniye Alataş Emlük, Uğur Yüksel and two other persons, all of whom were working for the security forces. The lawyer asked the prosecutor to prosecute them.
On 29 March 2005 the Diyarbakır prosecutor filed an indictment with the Diyarbakır Assize Court and accused Abdulkadir Aygan, Mahmut Yıldırım, Abdulkerim Kırca, Muhsin Gül, Fethi Çetin, Kemal Emlük, Saniye Emlük and Yüksel Uğur of ill-treating and killing eight persons, including Lokman and Zana Zuğurli.
Criminal proceedings against the defendants who are members of the military are still pending before the Seventh Division of the Court of Army Corps. Criminal proceedings against the civilian defendants are pending before the Diyarbakır Assize Court.
COMPLAINTS
The applicants complained under Articles 2, 5 and 13 of the Convention that Lokman and Zana Zuğurli had been unlawfully deprived of their liberty and killed by agents of the respondent State and that no effective investigation had been carried out by the national authorities into the killings.
Under Article 3 of the Convention the applicants complained that Lokman and Zana Zuğurli had been ill-treated by agents of the State. They further complained that the indifference displayed by the national authorities to their calls for help and those authorities' failure to carry out an investigation amounted to inhuman treatment within the meaning of the same Article.
THE LAW
On 12 April 2010 the Court received the following declaration from the Government:
“I declare that the Government of Turkey offer to pay ex gratia the sum of 30,000 euros jointly to Mrs İsmet Zuğurli, Ms Fatma Zuğurli, Ms Mekye Zuğurli, Ms Zülyazan Zuğurli, Ms Firuze Zuğurli, Mr Dara Zuğurli and Ms Nihal Zuğurli and the sum of 25,000 euros jointly to Mr Hayrullah Zuğurli, Mr İdris Zuğurli, Mr Mesut Zuğurli and Mrs İffet Zuğurli with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights.
This sum, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be converted into Turkish liras at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. It will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on it, from expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points. The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.”
On 27 April 2010 the Court received the following declaration signed by the applicants' legal representative:
“We, Ms Habibe Danışman Deyar, Mr Burhan Deyar and Mr Tahir Elçi, the applicants' legal representatives, note that the Government of Turkey are prepared to pay ex gratia the sum of 30,000 euros jointly to Mrs İsmet Zuğurli, Ms Fatma Zuğurli, Ms Mekye Zuğurli, Ms Zülyazan Zuğurli, Ms Firuze Zuğurli, Mr Dara Zuğurli and Ms Nihal Zuğurli and the sum of 25,000 euros jointly to Mr Hayrullah Zuğurli, Mr İdris Zuğurli, Mr Mesut Zuğurli and Mrs İffet Zuğurli with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights.
This sum, which is to cover any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage as well as costs and expenses, will be converted into Turkish liras at the rate applicable on the date of payment, and will be free of any taxes that may be applicable. It will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the decision taken by the Court pursuant to Article 37 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. From the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
Having consulted my clients, I would inform you that they accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Turkey in respect of the facts giving rise to these applications. They declare that this constitutes a final resolution of the case.”
The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols and finds no public policy reasons to justify a continued examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention). In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Stanley NaismithFrançoise Tulkens
RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy