ECHR Punishes Turkey For "Unclaimed Mine Explosion"

The European Court of Human Rights issued a verdict in the case of Evin v. Turkey, a case that concerns the explosion of a device found by a group of children, killing one of them and seriously injuring the others, and the length of the compensation proceedings subsequently brought by their parents.

While the verdict was issued 16 years after the beginning of the case, the court found Turkey of violating Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time), ordering Turkey to pay for damages. 

What happened?

On 13 March 1999, in the Hani district (province of Diyarbakır), Turgay Ergin, a seven-year-old boy, was playing with Servat Evin, aged eight, when Suat Evin, aged 11, came up to them with an object he had found in a bin near a military shooting range. The object exploded in his hands. Servat Evin suffered brain damage and displacement of the cornea, and Suat Evin had his left forearm amputated. Turgay Ergin died from his injuries.

On 2 August 1999 the Hani public prosecutor’s office concluded that the death had been caused by the explosion of a bomb – originally an explosive device belonging to the armed forces – that had been prepared by PKK terrorists and left in a bin. Its efforts to identify the perpetrators were unsuccessful. On 3 July 2009 it discontinued the case as the prosecution had become time-barred.

In February 2000 Aysel Akdemir and Fatma Evin applied to the Ministry of the Interior for compensation for the death of and injuries to their respective children, but to no avail. In June 2000 Ms Akdemir and Ms Evin brought a compensation claim with the Administrative Court, in which Ms Akdemir sought a sum equivalent at the time to 52,859 euros (EUR) for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and Ms Evin, on behalf of her children, sought the equivalent of EUR 70,150 at the time for pecuniary damage. 

In accordance with subsequent court decisions, Ms Akdemir received a sum equivalent to EUR 22,172 in January 2011. In January 2012 Ms Evin and her children were awarded the equivalent of EUR 38,036 in accordance with court decisions.

However, applicants submitted a complaint saying that those responsible were not found. The court found Turkey guilty of violating the convention Article 6/1, ordering Fatma Evin and her children Suat and Servet Evin a sum of 6,000 euros and 5,000 euros to Aysel Akdemir. 

10,000 land mine victims 

According to the A Turkey Without Land Mines Initiative [Mayınsız Bir Türkiye Girişimi], there are 1,101,389 mines in Turkey with 839,000 anti-personnel land mines and 164,797 anti-tank mines. The amount of other war-leftover explosives is unknown

Mines (approximately 3,174 spread in an area of 214,732,370 square meters) are mostly found in the following provinces: Ağrı, Ardahan, Batman, Bingöl, Bitlis, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hakkari, Hatay, Iğdır, Kars, Mardin, Siirt, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak, Tunceli and Van.   

There are estimably over 10,000 mine victims in Turkey (AS/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.