TURKEY
CASE N° TK/55 - MEHMET SINÇAR
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Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 185th session
(Geneva, 21 October 2009)
The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
Referring to the case of Mr. Mehmet Sinçar, a former member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/185/11(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 184th session (April 2009),
Taking into account the letter of the President of the Turkish Inter-Parliamentary Group of 16 October 2009 and of the information provided by Mr. Sinçar’s family on 10 August and 15 October 2009,
Recalling the following:
- Mr. Sinçar, of Kurdish origin, was a member of the Turkish Parliament elected in 1991, representing the south-eastern region of Turkey; he was shot dead at close range in September 1993 in Batman, where he had gone to attend the funeral of a member of the Democracy Party Bureau who had been assassinated in August 1993;
- In October 2006, the Turkish authorities reported that the persons initially suspected of the murder - members of a terrorist group - had all been acquitted for lack of evidence, except two persons who were at large;
- In January 2008, the President of the Turkish National Group reported that a criminal case regarding Mr. Sinçar's murder was pending before the 6th Assize Court of Diyarbakir. A hearing was scheduled for 21 February 2008 and another one for 8 May 2008. In his letter of 12 October 2008, the President of the Group reported that the indictment prepared by the Diyarbakir State Security Court dated 24 May 2000 (2000/59) contained no information about a complainant. The review of the investigation documents and documents pertaining to the legal proceedings showed that neither Mr. Sinçar’s wife nor any other relative had been consulted as witnesses, that no notice was sent to Mrs. Sinçar, and that neither she nor any other relative had been informed of the proceedings or applied as “intervener” (civil party);
- In his letter of 6 April 2009, the President of the Group reported that, according to information supplied by the Ministry of Justice, Diyarbakir 6th Assize Court requested from the Court of Kiziltepe where Mr. Sinçar’s family resides (his wife and three sons) to call them to be heard about the case. However, as at 12 March 2009, there had been no response from them,
Considering that the family reported that they had never received any summons to appear before court, which information was confirmed by the President of the Turkish Inter-Parliamentary Group, who in his most recent letter reported that the decision of the 6th Diyarbakir Assize Court dated 6 February 2009, ordering the First Instance Court of Kiziltepe to invite the registered members of Mehmet Sinçar’s family in order to hear whether or not they wished to intervene in the case, has not yet been implemented,
- Thanks the President of the Turkish Inter-Parliamentary Group for his letter and for his cooperation;
- Reiterates its wish toreceive the requested information on the proceedings pending before Diyarbakir Court in this case, especially regarding the identity of suspects, if any, their motives and the outcome of the hearings held so far;
- Trusts that Mr. Sinçar’s family members will now be contacted by the Court without further delay as their testimony may help advance the proceedings;
- Requests the Secretary General to inform the authorities and Mr. Sinçar’s family accordingly;
- Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 122nd IPU Assembly (March-April 2010).
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