The two cases declared admissible in March 1995 involve instances of torture, intimidation and harassment:

Case 1. On 13th February, 1993 about 300 soldiers and special teams entered the village of Cinaronu and forces Isset Aslan, members of his family and other villagers to gather in the village square and lie in the snow all night. As the men lay there they were totured by the soldiers. They were also threatened that their huses would be burned down and that the women of the village would be raped.

Case 2. On about midday on the 14th February 1993, O.A. and his cousin, watching over sheep on the mountains, alleges that he was stripped naked and severally beaten up ans threatened with rape by a group of about 50 Turkish soldiers.

Both applicants are still suffering from the effects of the toture.

The Commission's decision to investigate the cases represents a significant step towards the promotion of accountability. Democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.

The individual applicants were helped to take their grievances to Strasbourg by the Human Rights Association of Turkey and the Kurdish Human Rights Project in london.