The European Court of Human Rights Chamber has ruled in the case of Halime Kılıç v. Turkey (application no. 63034/11) that the Turkish authorities failed to protect the life of a woman murdered by her husband. The court found that there had been a violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights (the ‘Convention’), and a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination). The victim, Fatma Babatlı, had lodged four official complaints and obtained three protection orders and injunctions against her husband. The court found that Turkish authorities had failed to adequately punish breaches of these orders, rendering them effectively meaningless.
The action was brought by Babatlı’s mother, Halime Kılıç, claiming that the domestic authorities had failed to protect her daughter’s life, relying on Article 2 of the Convention. Babatlı, a mother of seven, had been repeatedly assaulted by her husband (S.B.). Under the Family Protection Act (Law no. 4320), the Family court served an injunction demanding the removal of Babatli’s husband from the family home and an order against violent behaviour towards her. Under this law, any breach of an order should have resulted in a custodial sentence. The final complaint lodged against S.B. alleged that he was making repeated death threats and abducted two of Babatlı’s children. Less than a month later, Babatlı was murdered by her husband who also committed suicide.
Following her daughter’s death, Ms. Kılıç brought a complaint seeking identification and prosecution of the officials who had failed to carry out investigation into her daughter’s complaints, alleging that this omission constituted a breach of duty, and ultimately led to the failure to prevent her murder. She complained that that there had been a lack of effective remedies offered to her, as the family courts had failed to ensure compliance with the orders issued. Kılıç further alleged that the proceedings surrounding her daughter’s complaints had been unfair. The Turkish public prosecutor ordered discontinuation of proceedings in respect of this complaint.
In considering the allegation, it was accepted that the authorities failed to invoke relevant Turkish law providing for the imposition of a custodial penalty in the instances of breached injunctions. Furthermore, the ECtHR observed the delay of the national courts in serving protection orders and that Ms Babatlı had been assaulted by her husband during the interim period.
Secondly, the ECtHR also found that there had been a violation of Article 14 of the Convention, prohibiting discrimination. The ECtHR considered that the Turkish authorities had neglected to appreciate and respond to the gravity of the ongoing domestic violence, noting in particular the repeated assaults and death threats against Ms Babatlı and her children. It was concluded that leaving Ms Babatlı in a position of vulnerability without access to necessary resources or protection, constituted a breach of Article 14 on grounds of gender, when read in conjunction with Article 2.
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