21107 HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN TURKEY : IHD REPORT 2012

DIYARBAKIR – IHD – Mesop – :  Human Rights Association (IHD) Diyarbakir Branch has presented the Kurdish region rights violations report for the year 2012. According to the report, 21,107 rights violations were registered in the region in 2012, revealing a substantial increase in right violations in prison and in the number of deaths in clashes.

Speaking at the press conference on the report, IHD Diyarbakır Branch Secretary Raci Bilici said right violations in the Kurdish region were a consequence of the deadlock in the Kurdish question and called on the government to progress the dialogue process in a more effective way. Bilici pointed out that the unending military operations and security policies of the government have dragged the whole Kurdish region into a war environment. Bilici remarked that the clashes and deaths in 2012 have doubled the figures of previous years. Bilici reminded of the Roboski Massacre, which claimed the lives of 34 Kurdish civilians in Roboski, in Şırnak, on 28 December 2011, and added that no progress was made in 2012 to guarantee the right to life of civilians. “The war in the Kurdish region gives harm to innocent people most”, Bilici underlined and added that the nonpunishment of perpetrators encourage state officers to further attack and kill civilians.

Bilici noted that the year 2012 mainly witnessed an increase in right violations in prisons and illtreatment, attacks on freedom of thought and expression, bans on meetings and demonstrations and violations of economic and social rights.

Bilici reminded of the 68-days mass hunger strike by Kurdish political prisoners and noted this protest was made against the aggravated solitary confinement of jailed leader of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), Abdullah Öcalan. The ending of the protest upon Öcalan’s call has once again revealed the significant role the Kurdish leader can play on the way to the solution of the Kurdish question.  Bilici called attention to KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) operations which -he underlined- has led to the arrest of thousands of politicians, human rights defenders, NGO representatives, lawyers, students, academics because of the opponent stance they display. Bilici said the government should ensure the release of thousands of KCK detainees by removing all obstacles before the freedom of thought and expression in the scope of universal norms. Such a step will make a great contribution to the ongoing process of talks, he added.

Below a list of figures of main violations in 2012;

* 237 members of security forces died, 459 injured in gunfights

* 284 PKK militants died, 11 injured in gunfights

* 56 civilians killed, 228 injured in unsolved murders, extrajudicial killings and gunfights

* 23 people died in cases of suspected deaths

* 31 people died and 3 injured due to official neglect or mistake

*11 soldiers/police officers committed suicide and 5 attempted suicide

* 41 women committed suicide and 8 attempted suicide

* 45 men committed suicide and 22 attempted suicide

* 20 children committed suicide and 4 attempted suicide

* 4418 people taken into custody

* 1475 people jailed

* 130 people detained by militants of the Kurdish movement

*876 cases of torture and inhuman treatment

*213 cases of intervention in social events, 315 people injured

*1971 people subjected to investigation, lawsuit and penalty

*127 political parties, unions, associations and cultural institutions subjected to raid and attack

*12 political parties, unions, associations and cultural institutions closed

*447 cases of mother tongue ban in self-defense

*3236 rights violations in prisons

*395 cases of violation of economic and social rights

*12 villages evacuated and burned down

*33 lands and fields burnt down

*89 cases of land, pasturage and grazing prohibition

*47 cases of right violations as a result of military operations

*Claims of 13 mass graves where 80 people are buried

*Four mass graves discovered with 37 people buried in them

*31 cases of treatment on bodies of dead militants

*5631 cases of other violations

Total number of violations: 21107