E/CN.4/1996/72 page 26 Allegations Place: Mülheim Date: 28 February 1995 40. It has been reported that plain-clothes German Special Team members of Essen Police Headquarters arrived at the Café Royale on Eppinghofer Strasse in Mülheim Ruhr, which belongs to a Turkish national, in five or six vehicles accompanied by an ambulance. They put on hoods to cover their faces and bullet-proof vests once they got out of the cars. They later went into the café and shouted for everyone to lie on the floor. When one of the clients, Muhammed Bayrak (also of Turkish origin), told the Special Team members that he had a heart problem, they yelled back "We don’t care about your heart" and he was forcibly brought to the floor, hit in the mouth with the butt of a gun and kicked. Mr. Bayrak was hospitalized, suffering from broken ribs. 41. Another client of Turkish origin, Ziya Yildiz, was kicked while lying on the floor, handcuffed and hit on the head with a weapon. Nihat Isik, also of Turkish origin, who asked the police for identification, was pushed around, had a plastic bag put on his head to obstruct his breathing and had his throat clasped. 42. The Special Team members left the café. It was later understood that they were looking for three Yugoslav nationals. There were some German nationals who also witnessed the attack. 43. It is alleged that the behaviour of the Special Team members and their attack was prompted by racist motivations. Observations 44. According to the investigating public prosecution office, the incident took the following course: "On 28 February 1995 at about 7.50 p.m. 11 officers of Essen special team (SEK) apprehended 3 individuals in the pool café ’Bistro Royal’ in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Eppinghofer Strasse 108 who were under suspicion of having taken part in four armed robberies in Mülheim an der Ruhr and in Neuss, as well as two more in the Netherlands, in the course of which they carried firearms. The public prosecution office in ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands is investigating, inter alia, in respect of attempted murder, since a shot was fired at a victim in the course of an offence committed there. On the basis of information gathered in the course of telephone surveillance, there were indications that the persons to be apprehended were meeting in order to commit another similar offence. They were therefore presumed to be carrying firearms. This is why the officers of SEK Essen were deployed, whose main function is to apprehend armed criminals who are prepared to use force.