IHD: 26939 rights violations in first nine months
07 November 2012 – Rise in human rights violations in Kurdish areas, reported Human Rights Association
Human Rights Association (IHD) Diyarbakır Branch presented the Kurdish region rights violations report for the first nine months of 2012. According to the report, 26939 rights violations and a substantial rise in the number of deaths in clashes have been registered in the region in the first nine months of the year. The report puts emphasis on the ongoing hunger strike in Turkey prisons and the cases of violations in prisons.
Speaking at the press conference on the report, İHD Diyarbakır Secretary Raci Bilici pointed out that all disadvantageous circles of the society have been subjected to various violations of rights in the mentioned period. Bilici underlined that; “No progress has been made to prevent the cases of torture and ill-treatment as well as the obstacles to the freedom of thought and expression. Public meetings and demonstrations were not permitted but intervened. Women killings and violence against women didn’t record a decrease in the first months of 2012.”
Indicating that armed clashes and violations of the right to live have been two main causes of the increase in deaths in the Kurdish region, Bilici pointed out that “Hundreds of people have died because of the intensifying war in the region and the security policies that the government put into effect after the general elections in 2011. The country has been dragged into a chaos this year as deadlock policies escalated clashes while the government was expected to resolve the Kurdish problem through democratic ways.” IHD secretary also noted that this conflict environment has brought along civilian deaths, evacuations of villages, destruction of nature and many other violations of rights.
Bilici continued saying that; “We regret to say that the government has presented no concrete plan to stop the bloodshed in the country despite all calls various circles of the society have voiced for permanent peace and negotiation. The government has instead imposed solitary confinement on PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) leader Abdullah Öcalan in violation of human rights.”
Commenting the current hunger strike in Turkey prisons as a consequence of the government’s isolation policy and the conflict environment in the Kurdish region, Bilici repeated their call to the government to take urgent steps to satisfy the “legitimate rights” prisoners have highlighted.
Below a list of the statistical figures of main violations in the first nine months of 2012;
* 200 members of security forces died, 385 injured in gunfights
* 193 PKK militants died, 9 injured in gunfights
* 35 civilians killed, 165 injured in unsolved murders, extrajudicial killings and gunfights
* 17 people died in cases of suspected deaths
* 23 people died and 3 injured due to official neglect or mistake
* 5 soldiers/police officers committed suicide and 4 attempted suicide
* 22 women committed suicide and 5 attempted suicide
* 28 men committed suicide and 14 attempted suicide
* 12 children committed suicide and 4 attempted suicide
* 3177 people taken into custody
* 1162 people jailed
* 665 cases of torture and inhuman treatment
* 9624 asylum seekers and immigrants taken into custody
* 104 people detained by PKK militants
* 112 cases of intervention in social events, 182 people injured
* 1715 subjected to investigation, lawsuit and penalty
* 98 political parties, unions, associations and cultural institutions subjected to raid and attack
* 11 political parties, unions, associations and cultural institutions closed
* 634 publications recalled and banned
* 326 cases of mother tongue ban in self-defense
* 3014 rights violations in prisons
* 248 cases of violation of economic and social rights
* 12 villages evacuated and burned down
* 32 lands and fields burnt down
* 66 cases of land, pasturage and grazing prohibition
* 46 cases of right violations as a result of military operations
* Claims of 11 mass graves where 66 people are buried
* Four mass graves discovered with 37 people buried in them
* 21 cases of treatment on bodies of dead militants
* 4448 cases of other violations
Total number of violations: 26939
ANF / DIYARBAKIR/AMED