Judiciary Ignores Right to Life

A court in Erzurum (east of Turkey) has denied the families of several children compensation. When on shepherding duty in Agri province (east of Turkey) in 2006, three young boys had found unexploded ammunition and played with them. Eight-year-old Ismail Isik died, five-year-old Adem Akbay lost his fingers, and six-year-old Emrah Akbay was also wounded.

The families of the children applied for compensation to the Ministry of Defence, but their application was denied in the same year. After a complaint against military authorities, the Agri chief public prosecutor's office decreed that there was no one to be held responsible, and that the explosives were also used by illegal organisations. The case was thus dropped. The families' lawyer's appeal to a military penal court was also rejected.

In May 2007, an administrative court in Erzurum decreed in the trial against the Ministry of Defence that "there was no causal relationship between administrative actions and the damage. The demand for compensation was thus rejected.

The lawyer for the two families concerned said that the decision would be appealed against. He added that the state was responsible for protecting the right to life. The Ottawa Convention , which is concerned with the clearing of land mines and explosives, obliges Turkey to protect its civilians. Last year, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) convicted Turkey on that account.

A Diyarbakir Bar Association lawyer, Cihan Aydin, said that it was irrelevant whom the unexploded ammunition belonged to. According to the Ottawa Convention, it is a state's responsibility to clear land of weapon remnants and to designate and fence in dangerous areas. Should any damage occur, the state has to cover the damage and ensure that rehabilitation and care are provided.

Aydin also argued that a previous case which had been taken to the ECHR, and in which Turkey had been forced to pay compensation, had set a precedent that could not be ignored. (TK/EÜ/AG/EÜ)