CAT/C/32/D/135/1999
Page 3
1.2 On 18 August 1999 the Committee transmitted the complaint to the State party;
pursuant to rule 108, paragraph 9, of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the State
party was requested not to expel the complainant to Turkey, pending consideration of
his case by the Committee. By note dated 13 October 1999, the State party acceded to
this request.
Facts as submitted by the complainant
2.1 The complainant is a Turkish national of Kurdish ethnic origin from the city of
Batman in eastern Turkey. In 1993 he became a supporter of the National Liberation
Front of Kurdistan (ERNK), the political wing of the PKK. In 1994 the complainant
became a member of the People’s Democratic Party (HADEP). He participated in
meetings, and collected money and food for Kurds who were forced1 to leave their
villages and relocate to Batman.
2.2 On 19 March 1995, the complainant was arrested with 7 others, for reasons
unspecified, and detained for 15 days. During this time he claims to have been
subjected to torture on several occasions, which left scars on his back and left leg.2
2.3 On 10 May 1997, the complainant was arrested by four policemen whilst on his
way to a meeting of the Turkish Human Rights Association
(IHD). He was
blindfolded and taken to a field, where the policemen threatened to kill him if he did
not become a police informer and provided them with names of PKK, ERNK and
HADEP sympathizers. The complainant was frightened and agreed to cooperate, upon
which he was released. He then went into hiding, and fled to Istanbul on 14 May
1997. From there, he left Turkey for the Netherlands on 29 May 1997, with a false
passport.
2.4 After arriving in the Netherlands, the complainant learned from his father that the
authorities had been looking for him, that the family house was under police
observation, and that his father had been questioned by the police about his son’s
1
No details are provided.
Reference is made to a very brief medical report in Dutch (un-translated), which is again referred to in
the complainant’s comments on the State party submissions. There, a description of the medical report
is provided in English (see p3 of that document, under heading ‘Ad 2&3’).
2