CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 2 août 2005

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margin-left:39.7pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s81CCF55C { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:17pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:-17pt; text-align:justify } .s69DCC830 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s16312C0 { width:38.61pt; display:inline-block } .sD32277C5 { width:168.67pt; display:inline-block } .sF2E32F9B { width:36.61pt; display:inline-block } .s5F32E900 { width:208.31pt; display:inline-block }       FOURTH SECTION             CASE OF TANIŞ AND OTHERS v. TURKEY   (Application no. 65899/01)               JUDGMENT     STRASBOURG   2 August 2005   FINAL   30/11/2005     In the case of Tanış and Others v. Turkey, The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Sir   Nicolas Bratza , President ,   Mr   J. Casadevall ,   Mr   R. Türmen ,   Mr   M. Pellonpää ,   Mr   R. Maruste ,   Mr   S. Pavlovschi ,   Mr   J. Borrego Borrego , judges , and Mr M. O'Boyle , Section Registrar , Having deliberated in private on 5 July 2005, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no. 65899/01) against the Republic of Turkey lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by four Turkish nationals, Mr Yakup Tanış, Mr Mehmet Ata Deniz, Mr Şuayip Tanış and Mrs Selma Güngen (Tanış) (“the applicants”), on 9 February 2001. 2.     The applicants, who had been granted legal aid, were represented by Mr T. Elçi, Mr İ. Tanış, Mr C. Aydın and Mr R. Yalçındağ, of the Diyarbakır Bar. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their co-Agent, Mr M. Özmen. 3.     The application concerns the disappearance of two leaders of the Silopi branch of the People's Democracy Party (Halkın Demokrasi Partisi (HADEP)). The applicants alleged that the two men had been the victims of an extrajudicial execution in custody, despite the authorities' assertion that they had not been detained. The applicants relied on Articles 2, 3, 5 and 13 of the Convention 4.     The application was allocated to the First Section of the Court (Rule   52 §   1 of the Rules of Court). Within that Section, the Chamber that would consider the case (Article 27 § 1 of the Convention) was constituted as provided in Rule 26 § 1. 5.     By a decision of 11 September 2001, the Chamber declared the application admissible. 6.     On 1 November 2001 the Court changed the composition of its Sections (Rule 25 § 1). This case was assigned to the newly composed Fourth Section (Rule 52 § 1). 7.     A delegation from the Court, composed of Judges Sir Nicolas Bratza, M. Pellonpää and R. Maruste, heard evidence from witnesses between 28   and 30 April 2003 in Ankara. 8.     On 6 June 2003, to assist it in its examination of the merits of the case, the Court asked the Government to produce a fresh copy of the investigation file to include information that had been deleted from the file initially sent following a request by the public prosecutor's office for it to remain confidential. In a letter of 25 July 2003, the Government informed the Court that, as the information was still confidential, they were unable to produce the internal file with the missing information. 9.     In a letter of 4 December 2003, the Court asked the Government for additional information regarding progress in the investigation launched by the domestic authorities, including a chronology of the various stages in the investigation, the date the file would cease to be confidential and the date the investigation was scheduled to end. The letter also stated that the Court “regret[ted] that it ha[d] not received the documents from the investigation file showing the deleted information and that it [had] not [been] permitted to take evidence from Mr Levent Ersöz, the commanding officer of the Şırnak gendarmerie regiment at the material time, or from the person who [had] made the telephone call to Serdar Tanış”. 10.     On 3 and 30 July 2004 respectively the applicants' representatives and the Government produced to the Court copies of decisions in which the prosecuting authorities had ruled that neither the commanding officer of the Şırnak gendarmerie nor the officers concerned had a case to answer. 11.     On 1 November 2004 the Court changed the composition of its Sections (Rule 25 § 1). This case was assigned to the newly composed Fourth Section (Rule 52 § 1). THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 12.     The applicants were born in 1978, 1963, 1955 and 1975 respectively and live in Şırnak. They are close relatives of Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz, respectively the President and Secretary of the Silopi branch of the People's Democracy Party (Halkın Demokrasi Partisi (HADEP)). A.     The applicants' version of the events 13.     The applicants alleged that Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz received death threats from the Silopi gendarmerie command and the Şırnak gendarmerie regimental headquarters on account of their political activities. 14.     At about 1.30 p.m. on 25 January 2001, three people in a blue Fiat purporting to be police officers attempted to force Serdar Tanış to get into the car. Having informed them that he would go to the central gendarmerie station only if he received an official summons, he made his way to HADEP's offices. On receiving a call on his mobile phone from the gendarmerie commanding officer, he went to the station accompanied by Ebubekir Deniz. Three witnesses, Ömer Sansur, İsa Kanat and Hamit Belge, saw them enter the station. 15.     An hour later, unable to reach the men on their mobile phones, their families and lawyers asked the Silopi public prosecutor and the Silopi gendarmerie command for information. The commanding officer, Süleyman Can, told them on the telephone that neither man had attended the station or been taken into custody. 16.     On 1 February 2001, after the incident was reported in the press, the Şırnak provincial governor issued a written statement indicating that the two men had gone to the Silopi gendarmerie station on 25 January 2001, stayed for half an hour, and then left the premises. 17.     The applicants said that they had received no news of Serdar Tanış or Ebubekir Deniz since 25 January 2001. Neither man had shown any sign of life. B.     The Government's observations on the facts 18.     The Government said that, on 17 and 18 January 2001 respectively, Serdar Tanış and his father, Şuayip Tanış, attended the Silopi gendarmerie station to speak to the commanding officer. They signed the visitors' register, which indicated the times of their arrival and departure. 19.     At 2 p.m. on 25 January 2001, Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz went to the station to see the commanding officer. As he was not there, they spoke to another officer and left the building at 2.30 p.m. They signed the visitors' register on entering and leaving the building. 20.     After criminal complaints were lodged by the two men's families, the Silopi public prosecutor launched an investigation and took statements from the applicants. The relevant authorities were notified that they were missing and their photographs and descriptions were circulated to the public prosecutor's offices and police headquarters in the province. 21.     On 26 February 2001, at the request of the prosecutor leading the investigation, the district court made an order under Article 143 of the Code of Criminal Procedure restricting access to the preliminary investigation file. 22.     On 3 March 2001 the authorities seized a letter discovered when searching a vehicle that had crossed the border from northern Iraq which indicated that Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz were in a PKK (Workers' Party of Kurdistan) camp in Doloki (Iraq). The driver and owner of the vehicle and Serdar Tanış's father were taken into custody, but released after making statements. C.     Oral evidence 23.     Three delegates from the Court took the following depositions in Ankara between 28 and 30 April 2003. The depositions of Divan Arsu, Mehmet Ata Deniz and Zehra Deniz were obtained through an interpreter. 1.     Şuayip Tanış 24.     Şuayip Tanış said that he was an applicant and Serdar Tanış's father. He was living in Cizre at the material time, and ran a petrol station in Başveren (Silopi). He last saw his son, who lived in Silopi, on 24 January 2001. 25.     Before commencing his military service, that is to say prior to November 2000, his son had worked as a driver transporting fuel from Iraq. Serdar Tanış was the only child providing for the family, as the other children had not completed their studies. The witness said that he had heard that after returning from military service Serdar Tanış and a group of friends had taken steps to open a local branch of HADEP in Silopi. 26.     In October 2000 the witness and his brother were arrested by gendarmes on their way to work. His brother was released, but the witness was taken to Cizre district gendarmerie station. On the same day the gendarmes searched his home in his presence and made him sign a record. He was then taken to Şırnak gendarmerie headquarters, where he was held for seven days. He was made to wear a blindfold during questioning, so could not identify his interrogator. His interrogator told him: “Give up your HADEP activities. If you don't, it will cost you your life.” The witness was tried with four co-defendants and spent approximately fifty-seven days in prison. The person who made the accusations against them subsequently sent a letter to the authorities informing them that he had been acting under duress and did not even know the defendants. 27.     The witness then gave details of a meeting he had had with the commanding officer, Levent Ersöz, at the Şırnak regimental headquarters. The commanding officer had threatened him, saying: “Give up the idea of opening a local branch of HADEP in Silopi. I don't want to hear what you have to say, this is my area. If you don't give it up, I will not let you live.” 28.     The witness said that he had also been summoned by Süleyman Can, the commanding officer of the Silopi district gendarmerie, in January 2001, approximately two weeks before his son went missing. Süleyman Can had said to him “Tell Serdar to give up this business” and had telephoned Levent Ersöz, who asked to speak to the witness and said: “Why didn't Serdar come and see me? You tell him that if he doesn't come today, I'll kill him if he ever sets foot in the Şırnak area again. Tell him that. He knows my position and rank.” 29.     The witness and his son Müdür went back to see Süleyman Can, who repeated his earlier warning: “Tell him to give up that business. All his colleagues have resigned. He's the only one who's stayed on. If he doesn't resign, he'll come to grief.” Before leaving the premises, they asked Süleyman Can to convince Serdar Tanış himself or to put pressure on him. 30.     On being asked by the witness why he had not gone to see the Şırnak commanding officer, Serdar Tanış replied that he had spoken to him on the telephone and added that after the party's inauguration he had received a call from Süleyman Can and had told him: “Commanding Officer, if I give it up, someone else will replace me. I was born in the area and know the situation better and am not carrying out any illegal activity; I will not leave the party.” 31.     The witness's nephew Eyüp Tanış told him that on 25 January 2001 an attempt had been made to force Serdar Tanış into a vehicle outside the post office. He had told the occupants that he would only do as they said if he received a call from the “official” authorities. 32.     The witness said that his son and Ebubekir Deniz went to the gendarmerie station after receiving a telephone call from that source. The two men got on well and worked together for HADEP. Ebubekir Deniz had also received threats because of his political activities and, like Serdar Tanış, had been forced into hiding before the branch opened. Owing to the intimidation, he had been unable to continue working. The witness added that the entire family had suffered as a result of Serdar Tanış's political activities. 33.     He said that on the night of 25 January he was informed by his nephew İdris Tanış that Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz had not returned from the station. For four or five days the authorities denied that they had been there. On the sixth day the commanding officer said that, as he had been out on a tour of inspection, the two men had been seen by a non-commissioned officer, Selim Gül, and had left the premises half an hour later. The witness lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor on 28 or 29   January. Subsequently he and Mehmet Ata Deniz went to see the commanding officer Süleyman Can, who repeated that they had been on the premises for half an hour, but had then left. He told them: “We handed them over to the JİTEM [ Jandarma İstihbarat Terörle Mücadele – Gendarmerie Anti-Terrorist Intelligence Branch] ... the JİTEM does not take orders from the regimental commanding officer.” 34.     The witness affirmed that he had been held in custody at the Şırnak Security Directorate because of a letter addressed to him that had allegedly been seized in a vehicle that had entered Turkey from Iraq. The police told him that the letter said that his son was in the PKK camps. The witness considered that incident to be part of a “plot” against them. 2.     Eyüp Tanış 35.     Eyüp Tanış said that he was born in 1976 and was living in Silopi at the material time. He was a cousin of Serdar Tanış and a former administrator of the local branch of HADEP. 36.     He too stated that threats had been made against Serdar Tanış by the regimental commanding officer of the gendarmerie because of his attempts to open a local branch of HADEP in Silopi. Serdar Tanış had been subjected to intimidation and followed by plain-clothes police officers. He had been forced to leave Silopi and had spent approximately one month in Diyarbakır. The witness said that he too had been followed on a number of occasions. All seven of the HADEP party administrators had received threats and three had resigned as a result. 37.     On the morning of 25 January 2001, the witness and Serdar Tanış went to the HADEP offices, where the other party members were also present. Towards noon he went with Serdar Tanış to the post office. A car with three people inside pulled up in front of them. The driver and one of the passengers opened a rear door and asked them to get in. Serdar Tanış refused, saying: “We don't know you and if there's anything to be discussed, then we'll talk in an official institution, at the Silopi gendarmerie station or Security Directorate if you like – in an official place like that.” Unable to persuade the witness and Serdar Tanış to accompany them, the three people, who said they were police officers, left the scene. The witness and Serdar Tanış then returned to HADEP's offices. The witness left for a short period during which it appears that Serdar Tanış received a telephone call from the commanding officer of the gendarmerie and went to the station with Ebubekir Deniz. After waiting for approximately twenty minutes, the witness made several unsuccessful attempts to reach Serdar Tanış on his mobile phone. According to the witness, the driver of the minibus who took them to the station saw them enter the building. 38.     The witness said that he made a statement before the Silopi public prosecutor. He also answered questions by an investigating officer and provided a description enabling an identikit picture to be prepared of the two people who attempted to force Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz into the car. He subsequently attended the public prosecutor's office three times to examine photographs. At one of the sessions he indicated that he recognised the driver of the car in one of the photographs and found a strong likeness in another. In that connection, the witness confirmed the content of the identification record that was drawn up on 26 February 2001. 39.     The threats prompted by their political activities in HADEP continued after January 2001 and on one occasion the police searched the party's offices. 40.     The witness added that before starting his military service Serdar Tanış was in the business of transporting fuel from Iraq and did not engage in any political activity. He repeated that on 25 January Serdar Tanış went to the Silopi gendarmerie station with Ebubekir Deniz after receiving a telephone call from the commanding officer. The two men had been subjected to intimidation by the authorities when transporting fuel in their vehicles. They had threatened to withdraw Ebubekir Deniz's operator's licence and certificate. All the intimidation was linked to their political activities. 41.     The witness said that following Serdar Tanış's disappearance he became the acting President pending the next HADEP congress. In 2002 he was taken into custody at Silopi gendarmerie station. Around 7 a.m. one morning a military vehicle drew up outside his house. He was taken to the Silopi gendarmerie station. He was blindfolded and told: “You must resign from HADEP!” He refused and was tortured and threats were made to kill him like Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz. He was brought before a judge and accused of having PKK documents at his home. He lodged a criminal complaint against the officers who were on duty when he was in custody. 3.     Yakup Tanış 42.     Yakup Tanış said he was an applicant and one of Serdar Tanış's brothers. He was born in 1978 and was studying in Isparta at the material time. He returned to Silopi on 27 January 2001 following his brother's disappearance. 43.     He saw his brother when their father was taken into custody by the gendarmerie. His father telephoned him to say that he was with an officer and asked him to contact Serdar Tanış to persuade him to resign from HADEP. 44.     Yakup Tanış also confirmed that the family had been subjected to intimidation by the authorities on account of his brother's political activities. Serdar Tanış could not remain in Silopi. He feared that he would be arrested and had been threatened by Levent Ersöz and Süleyman Can, the commanding officers of the gendarmeries of Şırnak and Silopi respectively. Ebubekir Deniz was in the same position. Serdar Tanış had sent a complaint to the authorities about the threats that had been made against him and had asked for protection. The witness said that he had seen the complaint in question. 45.     The witness said that despite various attempts he was unable to gain any information from the authorities about his brother. He had even been taken to the police station twice, where he was instructed not to write any further letters to the authorities. A person called Mahmut had threatened to kill him like his brother. 4.     Mehmet Ata Deniz 46.     Mehmet Ata Deniz said that he was an applicant and Ebubekir Deniz's brother. He was assisted by an interpreter when giving evidence. He was born in 1963 and lived in Silopi. 47.     He confirmed that before they went missing his brother and Serdar Tanış had been forced to go to Diyarbakır by the threats and intimidation to which they had been subjected on account of their activities as members of HADEP. Their wives, who lived in Silopi, feared reprisals by the authorities and moved frequently. 48.     The witness said that approximately twenty days before his disappearance his brother had been arrested at the Habur checkpoint at the border with northern Iraq, and his operator's licence had been seized. The intimidation against his brother had begun when he joined HADEP. 49.     The witness described a meeting he had had with Captain Süleyman Can. He and Şuayip Tanış had gone to the gendarmerie station to make enquiries about Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz. He had said to the captain: “You have handed them over to the JİTEM”, to which the captain had replied that the JİTEM was not under his orders or the orders of the Şırnak regimental commanding officer. 50.     The witness said that he had made two statements to the Silopi public prosecutor without the assistance of an interpreter. His statements had been recorded by the public prosecutor, who had noted that he was illiterate and did not understand Turkish. 5.     Zehra Deniz, Divan Arsu and Selma Güngen 51.     The three witnesses were born in 1981, 1978 and 1975. Zehra Deniz is the wife and Divan Arsu the partner of Ebubekir Deniz. Selma Güngen is Serdar Tanış's wife. 52.     They confirmed that the authorities had threatened and intimidated both men on account of their activities as members of HADEP. They said that they had been afraid to remain in Silopi and had been forced to leave their home for a time. 6.     Ömer Sansur 53.     Ömer Sansur was born in 1981 and was living in Silopi at the material time. 54.     He said that he was present at HADEP's offices when Serdar Tanış received a telephone call from the gendarmerie station. Although it was Serdar Tanış who received the summons to go to the station, Ebubekir Deniz insisted on accompanying him. 55.     The witness said that he had driven the two men to the station and dropped them off approximately 20 metres from the main entrance. 7.     Hamit Belge and İsa Kanat 56.     The two witnesses were born in 1963 and 1951 respectively and lived in Silopi at the material time. 57.     They said that they saw Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz as they were about to enter the gendarmerie headquarters by the main entrance. The two men waved at them. 8.     Ebcet Sunmez 58.     Ebcet Sunmez was born in 1978 and was living in Cizre at the material time. He was a lorry driver and travelled from time to time to Iraq with Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz. He knew Serdar Tanış well, as they were from the same village. 59.     He said that Serdar Tanış had told him in telephone conversations that he had been subjected to intimidation and threats because of his political activities, and that he had had to leave Silopi for approximately one month and had attended to the administrative formalities required to open a branch of HADEP in Silopi in Diyarbakır. 60.     The witness gave this account of a visit he and Şuayip Tanış had made to the commanding officer of the Silopi gendarmerie Süleyman Can: “Approximately twenty days before Serdar Tanış's disappearance, I drove Şuayip Tanış to the Silopi district command. He had been summoned by Süleyman Can, who met us and told Şuayip Tanış that he wanted to speak to Serdar Tanış to get him to give up his activities as a member of HADEP. Süleyman Can said that Levent Ersöz, the commanding officer of the Şırnak regiment, had asked to speak to Şuayip Tanış. He reached Levent Ersöz on the telephone in İdil where he was on a tour of inspection. After speaking for approximately three minutes outside his office, Süleyman Can passed the telephone to Şuayip Tanış. As it was a cordless phone, I was able to hear the conversation. The commanding officer said to him: 'Tell Serdar to come and see me tomorrow, otherwise he had better not ever set foot in Şırnak again, or I'll kill him.' ” The witness added that after leaving the station Şuayip Tanış telephoned Serdar Tanış to ask him to go and see the commanding officer. After that incident, he encountered Serdar Tanış in HADEP's offices in Silopi and told him that he had seen Süleyman Can. 61.     The witness said that Şuayip Tanış had been arrested prior to 25   January 2001, probably as a result of his son's political activities. 9.     Sezgin Tanrıkulu 62.     Sezgin Tanrıkulu said that he was born in 1963 and was living in Diyarbakır at the material time. He was a lawyer and a representative of the Human Rights Association in Diyarbakır. 63.     He did not know Serdar Tanış or Ebubekir Deniz personally. However, he had been informed of the threats that had been made against them on account of their activities as members of HADEP. He learnt of their disappearance on 26 January 2001. 64.     The witness said that on 29 January 2001 he, the President of the Human Rights Association in Diyarbakır, Osman Baydemir, and two other people went to see the Silopi public prosecutor, Kubilay Taştan. Mr Taştan told them that he had spoken on the telephone with the commanding officer of the Silopi gendarmerie, who had affirmed that Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz had not been taken into custody or been to the station. The delegation from the Human Rights Association asked the public prosecutor why he had not gone to the station himself. The public prosecutor replied that he considered the answer he had received from the commanding officer on the telephone sufficient and urged them to pursue their enquiries in Şırnak. 65.     The witness said that he and Osman Baydemir had failed to get an audience with either the commanding officer of the Silopi gendarmerie or the district governor. The delegation went the same day to see the Şırnak public prosecutor. He had been informed of the incident and was waiting for written information from the Silopi public prosecutor's office. He said that he would then enquire of the commanding officer of the Şırnak gendarmerie regiment whether the two men had been taken into custody. He told the delegation that he had no power to take any other action. 66.     On 31 January 2001 the witness drafted a report with other lawyers entitled “The Silopi Disappearance Report”, which brought the matter to the attention of the public. As a result, the disappearance of Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz was widely reported in the media. Approximately four days after the media became involved, the Şırnak provisional governor issued a statement to say that the two men had attended the gendarmerie station but had left a short time later. 67.     The witness said that on 4 February 2001 he and Osman Baydemir made a public statement asking the authorities to explain why they had denied the truth and to reply to various questions. As a result of their statement, they were prosecuted and tried before being acquitted of the charges. 10.     Osman Baydemir 68.     Osman Baydemir was born in 1971. He lived in Diyarbakır and was the President of the Human Rights Association at the material time. He is now the mayor of Diyarbakır. 69.     On 26 January 2001 the association was informed by İdris Tanış that Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz were missing. It tried to contact the authorities but was unable to obtain any information. 70.     The witness said that he went to Silopi on 29 January with Sezgin Tanrıkulu and two other people. He described the meetings with the public prosecutors and confirmed what Sezgin Tanrıkulu had said in his statement. He said that he had formed the view that the Silopi public prosecutor appeared to be bound by the gendarmerie's denials and had told them that he had not questioned any of the gendarmes concerned or gone to the scene to make enquiries. 11.     Resul Sadak 71.     Resul Sadak was born in 1959 and was living in Şırnak at the material time. In January 2001 he was the President of the local branch of HADEP in Şırnak. He knew Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz from their activities in the party. 72.     He confirmed that members and leaders of HADEP were subjected to threats and intimidation. He himself had been taken into custody after the application was made to open a party office in Silopi. 73.     In 1999, when he and others were in the process of trying to open a local branch of HADEP in Şırnak, they too had been subjected to intimidation and threats by the authorities. Three members of the party in Silopi had been forced to resign as a result of the intimidation. The party had only been able to assemble five members instead of seven. Serdar Tanış had informed him of the pressure being exerted on him and in January 2001 had handed over a letter in his presence to the President of the Diyarbakır office of HADEP giving details of the threats and intimidation to which he and members of the party in Silopi had been subjected by the commanding officer of the Şırnak regiment. 74.     The witness asserted that at the beginning of January 2001 he was arrested by gendarmes on the road from Şırnak to Diyarbakır and summoned to the Şırnak regimental headquarters. The commanding officer threatened him and expressed his displeasure at the opening of local party branches in Silopi and Cizre. He asked him not to open the offices, saying: “If you do not give it up, I will strangle you at the Kasrik Pass. Go and complain to whoever you want. You'll be in big trouble.” 75.     The witness said that Serdar Tanış had received a number of telephone calls in his presence from the commanding officers of the Silopi and Şırnak gendarmeries, and had informed him of the threats and pressure to which he had been subjected in an effort to persuade him to resign. 76.     He said that he had informed the Şırnak public prosecutor of the threats and intimidation to which they had been subjected as a result of their political activities in HADEP and lodged a complaint. 12.     Ali Ürküt 77.     Ali Ürküt was born in 1959 and was the President of the Diyarbakır office of HADEP at the material time. 78.     He said that he had known Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz since the end of 2000 and that they often came to Diyarbakır. He personally oversaw their attempts to secure permission from the authorities to open a local party branch in Silopi and witnessed the enormous difficulties they encountered. 79.     Serdar Tanış informed him of all the threats and intimidation to which he and his entourage had been subjected. The witness overheard a telephone conversation in which Serdar Tanış's father Şuayip Tanış, who was in custody at the time, called his son to ask him to see the commanding officer of the Şırnak gendarmerie regiment immediately. 80.     The witness said that Serdar Tanış had been anxious and concerned about the threats and arranged for his lawyer to draft five or six copies of a petition to the public prosecutor and other authorities, informing them of the intimidation and pressure to which he and his entourage were being subjected by the commanding officer of the Şırnak gendarmerie regiment. On 8 January 2001 Serdar Tanış gave him the petitions. However, fearing reprisals, he kept them until 25 January 2001, when he handed them over to the lawyers dealing with the case. 13.     Mahmut Damar 81.     Mahmut Damar was born in 1971. He was a sergeant at Silopi gendarmerie district command and a traffic team commander at the material time. 82.     He said that approximately eighty people worked at the station. He described the premises and said that in addition to the main entrance there was a separate entrance for officers on the left-hand side of the building. 83.     From 25 January until 9 a.m. on 26 January 2001 he was the duty officer and assisted non-commissioned officer Faruk Atalay. His duties were to monitor and record incidents and to supervise the activities of the soldiers. Sergeant Veysel Ateş was responsible for recording the names of visitors at the main entrance. 84.     Mr Damar said that visitors were required to leave proof of identity and to sign the register. They were given a badge to enter the building. 85.     He said that no incidents had been recorded on 25 January 2001. He did not know Serdar Tanış or Ebubekir Deniz and learnt of their disappearance from the press and from discussions within the gendarmerie. 14.     Cemal Güldüler 86.     Cemal Güldüler was born in 1968 and was a non-commissioned officer at Silopi district gendarmerie command at the material time. He had administrative duties relating to personnel. 87.     He said that he did not know Serdar Tanış or Ebubekir Deniz. He had heard of them and was informed of the incident after receiving a summons from the Silopi public prosecutor. 88.     The witness said that in January they carried out a tour of inspection. He could not remember whether the commanding officer of the Şırnak regiment had taken part. He confirmed that people entering or leaving the station were required to sign a register. 15.     Arif Aydoğan 89.     Arif Aydoğan was born in 1979. He was performing his military service at Silopi district gendarmerie command at the material time. He was on guard duty inside the building. 90.     He did not know Serdar Tanış or Ebubekir Deniz. He had heard of them through the public prosecutor. 91.     The witness said that he could not recall the following statement he made on 29 January 2001: “The witness was shown photographs of Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz. He said, 'The persons you have shown me did not enter the station while I was on duty ... on 25 January 2001. As a great many civilians enter or leave the station, it is not easy to keep track of them'.” 16.     Mehmet Taşdan 92.     Mehmet Taşdan was born in 1979. He was performing his military service at Silopi district gendarmerie command at the material time. He was on guard duty at the main entrance to the station. 93.     He said that the visitors' registers were kept by Veysel Ateş. 94.     He did not know Serdar Tanış or Ebubekir Deniz. He had made a statement to the public prosecutor, who showed him photographs of the men and asked him if he knew them and whether he had seen them previously at the station. That is how he learnt that they were missing. 17.     Selim Gül 95.     Selim Gül was born in 1968. He was a non-commissioned officer engaged in operations intelligence at Silopi district gendarmerie command at the material time. 96.     He said that his job was to gather intelligence for use in maintaining public order and preventing crime. He was the leader of a two-man team. He and his colleague reported to the commanding officer, Süleyman Can. The usual source of their information was individuals. 97.     The witness knew Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz. Serdar Tanış contacted him by telephone at the end of 2000 to ask him for help as his father had been taken into custody for providing assistance and support to a terrorist organisation. Serdar Tanış offered to provide information in exchange. The witness first met Serdar Tanış in January 2001 in the commanding officer's office. Their discussion lasted several minutes, but the witness could not remember what it was about. They did not speak about Serdar Tanış's HADEP activities and he was not subjected to pressure or intimidation. 98.     The witness said that Serdar Tanış provided him with information. He got in touch when he had information to pass on and in some ways acted as an agent for the witness and Captain Süleyman Can. The witness said that the first time he saw Ebubekir Deniz was on 25 January 2001. 99.     On that date he saw both Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz in the waiting-room on the second floor of the gendarmerie station. They had come to see Süleyman Can about Ebubekir Deniz being disqualified from driving. The witness did not summon them to the building. As the commanding officer was not there, they left the waiting-room, Ebubekir Deniz first. The witness spoke with Serdar Tanış for approximately thirty seconds and he handed him documents wrapped in a newspaper he had taken out of the inside pocket of his jacket. One of the documents concerned HADEP, the other, contraband. The witness parted company with the two men in the building and saw them leave by the main entrance. However, he lost sight of them once they were in the street. 100.     The witness did not recall when or how he was informed of their disappearance. He was questioned by the public prosecutor about it. He could not really remember whether he had handed the documents over to the public prosecutor. 101.     He said that he gathered information about HADEP and other political parties as part of his job and that gendarmerie officers working in intelligence used unmarked vehicles when necessary. Taşkın Akgün worked for the intelligence service at the regimental headquarters of the Şırnak gendarmerie. The witness did not know whether Taşkın Akgün and other gendarmes came to Silopi in civilian dress on 25 January 2001. He contacted him after the men's disappearance in order to work with him on the investigation. 18.     Veysel Ateş 102.     Veysel Ateş was born in 1975. He was performing his military service and had the rank of sergeant at Silopi district gendarmerie command at the material time. He was responsible for keeping the visitors' registers and carrying out the checks necessary for that purpose. 103.     He said that once the checks had been carried out visitors were allowed to go to the relevant office unaccompanied. 104.     He knew Serdar Tanış, who had already been to the gendarmerie station in the past. The witness was on duty on 25 January 2001. Serdar Tanış arrived with Ebubekir Deniz. They appeared relatively calm and he spoke with them briefly. They told him that they had come to see the commanding officer Süleyman Can. He informed them that he had gone out. Serdar Tanış asked when he would be back. The witness replied that the commanding officer did not give them any information about his schedule. Serdar Tanış decided to wait for him in the waiting-room. He entered their names in the register and the two men signed the book using his pen. The witness gave the following account of what ensued: “After a few minutes Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz returned to reception. I gave Serdar Tanış his mobile phone, they signed the register and left the premises. They did not say whether they had seen anyone else and did not ask to see Selim Gül.” 105.     As regards the visitors' register, the witness explained that when his turn of duty came to an end he would show the register to the officer relieving him, who would check it and sign at the foot of the last page. The witness was unable to explain why there was no signature in the register for 25 January 2001, whereas the corresponding page for 5 January 2001 did have one. The visitors' register showed that Serdar Tanış had been to the station on 18   January 2001. 106.     The witness said that he clearly recalled that he had not seen any vehicle pass through the entrance to the building on that date, other than military vehicles. 19.     Yücel Erteki 107.     Yücel Erteki was born in 1979. He was performing his military service as a sentry at Silopi district gendarmerie command. 108.     He said that he had not been informed of the disappearance of Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz. From his post, he could not see people entering or leaving the building. He could not recall being summoned by the public prosecutor. However, he acknowledged that the signature on a statement taken by the public prosecutor was his. 20.     Mehmet Bozca 109.     Mehmet Bozca was born in 1966. He was a non-commissioned officer serving in the operations unit of the Şırnak gendarmerie at the material time. 110.     He said that he had heard of Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz following anonymous information received at the gendarmerie station in March. While he could not remember the precise content of the information, the gist was that two people, who may have been Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz, had been taken by lorry to PKK camps in northern Iraq. The gendarmerie passed the information on to the anti-terrorist branch of the Security Directorate and drew up a report. He played no further part in the case. 21.     Adnan Yenici, Murat Özbaş, Hüseyin Vedat Yılmaz, Ramazan Arlıcı and Ramazan Gürlek 111.     The witnesses were born in 1972, 1970, 1949, 1970 and 1972 respectively. They were police officers at the Habur Security Directorate and responsible for immigration control at the border with northern Iraq. 112.     They were informed that Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz were missing and were asked whether the two men had left or entered Turkey through the Habur checkpoint. 113.     Acting on information from an anonymous informant, the witnesses stopped a lorry that had entered Turkey from Iraq and, during a search that took approximately five hours, seized a letter and a small bottle filled with green powder. They were somewhat surprised as the information related to a possible haul of leaflets issued by an illegal organisation. The driver was present during the search and denied any implication in the incident. They informed the Silopi public prosecutor, who came out to the checkpoint. The letter was intended for Şuayip Tanış and said that Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz were in PKK camps in northern Iraq. 22.     Süleyman Can 114.     Süleyman Can was born in 1968 and was the commanding officer of the Silopi district gendarmerie at the material time. 115.     He said that his superior was Colonel Levent Ersöz, the commanding officer of the Şırnak gendarmerie regiment. He would converse with him several times a day. 116.     He described the location of his office. Visitors waited in the waiting-room opposite his office and he saw them when he had time. 117.     He had not known Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz before Nove