L'obligation de cohérence de l'enquête pour meurtre

FAITS

M. Esat Bayram, est un ressortissant turc qui allégue que son frère Halim a été tué par son supérieur alors qu’il effectuait son service militaire, contrairement à l’enquête officielle qui avait conclu au suicide.

Il alléguait en outre que son frère n’avait pas reçu de soins médicaux adéquats à l’hôpital militaire et que l’enquête sur son décès était insuffisante.

SOLUTION

Dans son arrêt du 26 mai 2009 Esat Bayram v. Turkey (disponible uniquement en anglais) la Cour relève que le frère de M. Bayram fut transféré immédiatement après l’incident à l’hôpital militaire, où il fut opéré, concluant que les autorités n’ont pas manqué à leurss obligations.

Cependant, l’enquête diligentée ensuite présentait de telles incohérences et défauts graves, qu'elle viole l'obligation procédurale de protéger la vie.

CITATIONS

"42.  The Court observes that the applicant’s brother had been seriously injured during the incident and was immediately transferred to the Çanakkale Military Hospital, where he underwent an operation. On 14 September 1998, eight days after the operation, the applicant’s brother developed disseminated intravascular coagulation and the doctors decided to transfer him to the GATA Military Hospital in Istanbul. He died from internal bleeding in the ambulance during the transfer. On the basis of the available material, the Court finds no indication of any shortcomings on the part of the authorities in providing adequate medical treatment to the applicant’s brother.

43.  In view of the foregoing, the Court finds that there has been no violation of Article 2 under this head."

"47.  The obligation to carry out an effective investigation into unlawful or suspicious deaths is well-established in the Court’s case law [...] The investigation must be capable, firstly, of ascertaining the circumstances in which the incident took place and, secondly, of leading to the identification and punishment of those responsible. This is not an obligation of result, but of means. The authorities must have taken the reasonable steps available to them to secure the evidence concerning the incident, including eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence and, where appropriate, an autopsy which provides a complete and accurate record of injury and an objective analysis of clinical findings, including the cause of deat [...]"

"52.  In the light of the foregoing, the Court considers that the national authorities failed to carry out an adequate and effective investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the applicant’s brother. The Court for its part finds it impossible to establish on the basis of the evidence before it whether the death of Halim Bayram was the result of suicide or of the act of another person. The Court would observe that its difficulty in determining whether there was any substance in the applicant’s claim that his brother was unlawfully killed rests with the failure of the authorities adequately to investigate the circumstances of the death"