We are here to release “The Report on the Human Rights Violation in the Eastern and South-eastern Anatolian Regions through the first 9 months of 2017” by the Human Rights Association.
As a result of persistence in problem solving practices apart from dialogue, we have been facing a painful and horrible battled conflict that influenced the social life deeply. Tried and tested since the 1990s but remaining without a solution, the violence-and-conflict based policy unfortunately leaves death tolls behind and irreparable damages in the society. Throughout the period when nearly every day there have been deaths, there has been a severe damage in the notion of peace and solution.
Due to armed-conflict, human rights violations increased during this period. Law and justice were damaged. Individuals and groups that oppose to the government’s antidemocratic practices are in danger of imprisonment or loss of socio-economical rights.
The state of emergency, which lacks the legal security and has turned into a means of oppression against opposition, has been prolonged another three months. There have been violations of human rights in terms of freedom of expression, free press, economical and social rights, and individual security. During the state of emergency, when obligations evolving out of international agreements were neglected, the government’s practices turned into a kind of arbitrary treatment against citizens. Thousands of officers and academicians were discharged without the ruling of the court and/or a legal basis. There is a serious oppression against the media; and 152 journalists/press employees are in prison at the moment. Media outlets and publishers are closed down, or they are prevented from making news through detention or arrest. The freedom of demonstration and speech was restricted by provincial governors or district governors. In some cities such as Diyarbakır, Van, Urfa and Batman, open-air meetings, demonstrations, rallies, and other events are banned for ‘security reasons’ either by delaying indefinitely or by 30 days each month. People who demand to use their rights, as mentioned in the Constitution’s 34th article, are responded violently by security officers, taken under custody or wounded.
There are 10 MPs (1 from CHP, 9 from HDP) in prison including the HDP’s ex-cochair Selahattin Demirtaş. These MPs are being sued over tens of years, some of whom have been sentenced and some others’ parliamentary immunities were lifted and ousted from the parliament. Undoubtedly, we can state that the imprisonment of MPs is not independent from the conflict-based policy of the government, and this shuts the door on a peaceful solution. Furthermore, we would like to inform that 93 BDP mayors (of 102 mayors in total) were replaced with government trustees, and more than 70 of them are under arrest now. Also, following the appointment of trustees, employees in the municipalities were exposed to personnel security investigation, and were suspended or discharged from their posts, which has resulted in direct violation of right to work and job security laws.
Some practices by the trustees target services that were started by DBP’s mayors and which have been widely appreciated by the public. It can be said that there is intolerance against the use of the Kurdish language as many signs in Kurdish and other languages were removed and nurseries and educational support houses in Kurdish were closed down. Monuments which had been placed in the squares were demolished and place names were changed into Turkish, which is considered as an intervention in the public’s common memory, and is definitely unacceptable.
In our region, human rights violations increasingly continued over the first 9 months. There have been many violations in several categories such as extra-judicial executions of civilians, torture and ill-treatment, bans on the right to assembly and organisation, violence against freedom of expression, freedom of press and against women and children, losses in economical and social rights.
With the idea that judicial mechanisms are under the influence of political discourse and lost their objectivity, illegal detention and arrest increasingly have continued. We have concluded that, in the region during the first nine months of 2017, 3278 people in total (including 19 children) were detained; 715 people, 2 of whom were children, were arrested. At least 2421 homes or workplaces were raided. Especially, we would like to emphasize that it is a clear violation of personal security and freedom to detain and arrest people over membership of illegal organization, helping illegal organizations, propaganda in favour of illegal organizations just using their social media posts as evidence.
There has been an increase in torture and ill-treatment inside and outside detention centres. People’s being subject to physical and psychological torture is definitely unacceptable. We would like to remind that torture is absolutely forbidden according to the Constitution and the international agreements signed by Turkey. These non-humane practices must be stopped immediately; whoever employed these methods must be discharged from their positions and taken to court.
Another place where torture is widespread and systematic is prisons. Along with the state of emergency, there have been violations in prisons such as banishment, violation of right to health, torture and ill-treatment, disciplinary proceedings, solitary confinement, limitation of communication and family visits. Inmates have stated, via letter or family members visiting our offices, that they were exposed to naked strip search and physical torture during transportation, being forced to stand during inspections, solitary cells, medical treatment while handcuffed, not getting medical treatment in infirmary or hospitals.
Another subject is the solitary practices against Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of PKK, in the high security F type Prison in İmralı. As a convicted prisoner, he has been prohibited from seeing his attorneys and his family members, which is a serious human rights violation. Tailor-made practices in prisons don’t comply with human rights notion and humane law. Therefore, we call for urgent action against solitary applications.
Violence against women continued during this period. Due to male-dominant society’s attempts to suppress women’s speech and lifestyle, in our region, 34 women were murdered, 9 committed suicide. 36 were wounded as a result of physical violence, 6 were sexually abused and 5 were forced into prostitution.
Also, violence of rights that children face increasingly continued during this period. Apart from children murdered violently, sexual abuse in social life increased, primarily in indoor premises such as school or dormitory. We still witness the deaths of children due to unclaimed explosives left around conflict zones. During the first 9 months, as a result of violence, 8 children were murdered, 6 committed suicide, 2 were forced into prostitution and 90 children were abused.
Another example for violations during the state of emergency and armed conflict is the declaration of curfews and special security zones. Hundreds of areas covering rural settlements were declared security zones on the grounds of military operations and curfews were imposed a lot of times. Residents of rural areas could not maintain their routines and experienced unjust suffering. There were economical and ecological losses due to wildfires in rural areas and forests. During the raids by security forces in military operations, civilians were tortured, maltreated, and detained unlawfully.
We, as human rights activities, do not want to see a war in our region and country. That is because we do not want to witness people being murdered, tortured, or imprisoned unjustly; we would like a life in which our children live and grow up peacefully and are hopeful for the future.
On this basis, we demand that state of emergency be lifted; the clash environment be ended, and finally a permanent de-escalation and peace talks be maintained. We wish an honourable life for all under all circumstances, without discrimination in terms of language, faith, ethnicity, nationality, gender and culture and we want to emphasize right to live is unquestionable.
IHD Diyarbakir Branch