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Turkey’s Village Guard System – Still in Place, Still an Obstacle |
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Kurdish Human Rights Project released a briefing paper today on Turkey’s long running, problematic village guard system. This system, which was established in its current form in 1985, has been responsible for numerous human rights violations and other crimes.
Currently the village guard system represents a major obstacle to the return of Kurds who were displaced from their villages during the 1990s but also the larger development of a peaceful political solution to the Kurdish issue in Turkey.
Although on the payroll of the Turkish state ostensibly to help ensure security, the guards are more often associated with rampant rights violations of civilians and each other. Reports of criminal acts and rights violations carried out by the village guards in Turkey have led international human rights groups, the EU and bodies within the Turkish government to call for the abolition of the system.
Although the Turkish government has repeatedly stated its intention to disband the system, to date they continue recruitment for it. In this, the village guards continue to violate the rights of returnees and each other, largely with impunity.
‘It is shockingly contradictory that the same Turkish government continues to use this system, which it has itself recognized is inherently and irreparably flawed, is the government that has made so many legislative changes to help better protect human rights in Turkey. By continuing this failed system, the government does itself and its people a disservice and undermines human rights advancements in other areas. Is Turkey committed to human rights for all of its citizens or not?' KHRP Managing Director, Rachel Bernu asked.
A copy of KHRP’s briefing paper can be found here here
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Anna Irvin / Rachel Bernu
Kurdish Human Rights Project
11 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1DH
Tel: 020 7405 3835
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www.khrp.org
The Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) is a UK registered charity committed to the promotion and protection of the human rights of all persons living within the Kurdish regions. Its innovative and strategic approach to international human rights practice, combined with a long-term and consistent presence in the region, enables it to secure redress for survivors of human rights violations and prevent abuse in the future.
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The Kurdish Conflict: International Humanitarian Law and Post-Conflict Mechanisms Available Now |
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 KHRP is pleased to announce today’s release of ‘The Kurdish Conflict: International Humanitarian Law and Post-Conflict Mechanisms’ by Routledge.
This book is written by KHRP Chief Executive Kerim Yıldız and Dr Susan Breau, Professor of International Law at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, who specialises in the law of armed conflict and international human rights law.
It is highly topical considering the ongoing conflict in the Kurdish region of Turkey, and the continued incursions into northern Iraq by the Turkish and Iranian armies and security forces, and Turkey's EU accession negotiations. Turkey has become an increasingly important player in Middle Eastern geopolitics. More than two decades of serious conflict in Turkey are proving to be a barrier to improved relations between Turkey and the EU. This book presents the first study to fully address the legal and political dimensions of the conflict, and their impact on mechanisms for conflict resolution in the region, offering a scholarly exploration of a debate that is often politically and emotionally highly charged.
Yıldız and Breau look at the practical application of the law of armed conflicts to the ongoing situation in Turkey and northern Iraq. The application of the law in this region also means addressing larger questions in international law, global politics and conflict resolution. Examples include belligerency in international law, whether the ‘war on terror’ has resulted in changes to the law of armed conflict and terrorism and conflict resolution.
The Kurdish Conflict explores the practical possibilities of conflict resolution in the region, examining the political dynamics of the region, and suggesting where lessons can be drawn from other peace processes, such as in Northern Ireland.
This book will be of great value to policy-makers, regional experts, and others interested in international humanitarian law and conflict resolution.
Hardback and Paperback copies of the book are available to order from the KHRP website shop for £85.00 and £29.99 per copy respectively.
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The Kurdish Conflict: International Humanitarian Law and Post-Conflict Mechanisms, by Kerim Yildiz and Susan Breau. |
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Reviewed by Michael M. Gunter
London and New York: Routledge, 2010. xxii + 272 pages. Notes to 329. Appendices to 340. Bibliography to 347. Index to 354. $47.95 paper. Published in The Middle East Journal 65 (Winter 2011), pp. 152-54.
This book is a groundbreaking analysis of the on-going conflict waged by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey and its spill over into northern Iraq in terms of the international law of war (jus in bello or international humanitarian law) and the use of force (jus ad bellum). As such, it frames the question within new lights that are particularly appropriate. Apposite too are the two authors. As the executive director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project in London (KHRP), Kerim Yildiz brings a thorough knowledge of Kurdish history and culture with a lengthy experience in the practical application of human-rights law regarding the Kurds within the European community. Over the years the KHRP has argued successfully numerous cases before the European Court of Human Rights involving Turkish violations of ethnic Kurdish rights within Turkey. Susan Breau is a professor of international law at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia with an emphasis on the international law of armed conflict and human rights.
After a brief discussion of the historical background, their analysis is divided into two parts. Part I concerns the international law of armed conflict as applied to the Kurdish struggle, while Part II delves into some potential legal and political solutions. Upon analyzing the relevant literature and treaties, the opening chapter of Part I concludes “on a factual basis in spite of the denial of Turkey” (p. 58) that the complex conflict in southeast Turkey, which also spills over into northern Iraq, constitutes a non-international armed conflict. Thus, “it can be argued that a whole range of humanitarian guarantees are offered to both civilians and combatants” (p. 88) by such means as the Hague Regulations of 1907 as well as the Geneva Conventions of 1949 with their Common Article 3 that provides limited protections for civilians and members of armed forces hors de combat.
Read Full Text: www.mesop.de
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KHRP Honoured at The Charity Awards 2010 |
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On the evening of 10 June, KHRP attended a star-studded ceremony hosted by comedienne Jo Brand at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel for The Charity Awards 2010, the UK’s most prestigious non-profit sector awards event. KHRP was one of three organisations short-listed in the International Aid and Development category in recognition of the tireless work it does in helping to bring perpetrators of human rights abuse in the Kurdish regions to justice.
All nominees were shortlisted for ‘specific initiatives which have improved the delivery of their charitable objectives and which demonstrate outstanding examples of best practice from which other charities can learn.’ The annual awards, sponsored by the Charities Aid Foundation, The Leadership Trust and The Times, were organised this year by Charity Finance. KHRP’s nomination was based on our successful ‘procurement of the abolition of torture by all lawful means’ initiative in which we urged the Charity Commission to accept work aimed towards this end as a legitimate charitable activity. This has since enabled other UK charities to include this in their mandate, bringing justice to countless torture survivors in the Kurdish regions and globally. The initiative has also resulted in some noteworthy precedents as a result of KHRP strategic litigation at the European Court of Human Rights. Of particular importance here is the precedent set in the case of Aydin v Turkey which established rape, when used in times of conflict, as a recognised form of torture across all member states of the Council of Europe.
“It is both a great privilege and a source of great pride for KHRP to have been recognised and so highly-commended by The Charity Award judges,” said KHRP Chief Executive, Kerim Yildiz. “As expressed by the Award’s organiser, Daniel Phelan, by being short-listed KHRP ‘demonstrated that it is amongst the best-managed charities in the UK’. Accordingly, KHRP would like to thank everyone whose efforts over the years have made its successes possible.”
The distinguished panel of judges at this years event included John Low CBE, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, Maeve Sherlock OBE, former Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, Dame Jo Williams, former Chief Executive of Mencap, Paul Winter, Chief Executive of The Leadership Trust, and Dame Mary Marsh, founding Director of the Clore Social Leadership Programme and former Chief Executive of the NSPCC. Celebrities in attendance at the event included Greta Scacchi, Lynda Bellingham, Jon Snow and Peter Bowles.
 
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There is a well-known Kurdish Proverb, ‘The Kurds have no friends but the mountains.’ And this summer, KHRP legal intern, Ann Schutte, will become extremely well-acquainted with the closer-to-home mountain range between France and Spain when she embarks on an impressive hike across the entire Pyrenees, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. The route is 900km in length, with 49,000m of ascent and descent - the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest over five times!
ns — including over 30 million Kurds indigenous to this mountainous expanse — across Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria and the Caucasus. Commenting on the challenge, Ann said, ‘I am hoping the trek will be an adventure, as well as a physical and mental challenge. Raising funds for a great cause may not fix my blisters, but it will make the effort worthwhile!’