ECHR finds Turkey guilty over 1993 disappearances

18-4-2014 – MESOP – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) this week found Turkey guilty of breaching the European Convention on Human Rights by violating the ‘right to life’. The case concerns the disappearance of six villagers who were detained by security forces in 1993 and never seen again. This ruling follows a 20-year campaign by their families for the truth and justice.

The men disappeared on June 14, 1993, the day after fierce fighting destroyed the village of Selcik in Turkey/north Kurdistan. The Strasbourg-based court heard that the men were arrested in front of other villagers and taken into custody at the nearby Gorumlu police station. The court ordered Turkey to pay 65,000 euros to four of the families of the six men. The victims’ names are: Şemdin Cülaz, Hamdo Şimşek, Hükmet Şimşek, İbrahim Akıl, Mehmet Sailh Demirhan and Halit Özdemir.