ECHR rules against Turkey in landmark case

10/06/2009

PARIS, France -- The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday (June 9th) ruled against Turkey for failing to protect a woman from domestic violence. The ECHR decided the state denied a citizen her "right to life" by failing to prevent her son-in-law from murdering her. Turkey also violated the European Convention on Human Rights which prohibits torture, inhumane treatment and discrimination, according to the ruling. The case was filed by the victim's daughter Nahide Opuz, whose ex-husband, Huseyin Opuz, shot her mother dead in 2002. The two women had been repeatedly abused by Opuz and had suffered life-threatening injuries on several occasions. Despite their repeated pleas, authorities failed to grant them protection due to a "general and discriminatory judicial passivity" in Turkey, according to the ruling. (Hurriyet - 10/06/09; TRT, Reuters, BBC, CNN - 09/06/09)