Kurdish Human Rights Project sent a fact finding mission to the Kurdish region of Turkey in December 2004 to investigate extra-judicial killings in Hakkari and Kiziltepe and to gauge human rights reform in the region.

The report of the mission details the killings of Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz by plainclothes policemen. Witnesses express grave doubts over the two official explanations put forward for the killings: firstly that Ahmet and Ugur were shot in a clash and secondly that they did not listen to calls to stop. In a separate potential instance of an extra-judicial killing, the report investigates the shooting of 19 year old shepherd Fevzi Can at close range by the military. There is no evidence to support the military's assertion that Can was a live stock smuggler, and concerns are raised that the Public Prosecutor has not conducted a satisfactory investigation of the incident.

The broader context of EU-inspired human rights reform in Turkey is also considered. The mission, having interviewed representatives of local human rights groups, concludes that in relation to the general treatment of Kurdish people Turkey has a long way to go before it meets the Copenhagen Criteria. Particular concerns focus on an increase in the use of psychological torture which counteracts the decrease in physical torture, unofficial detention of Kurds suspected of 'terrorist' links, failure to implement compensation schemes for IDPs, continuation of the village guard system and high levels of abuses against women. The authors recommend that Turkey's reforms must be assessed on the basis of implementation as well as formal, legislative changes, and that Turkey's accession to the EU must be founded on an accurate appraisal of Turkey's fulfilment of the relevant criteria rather than upon external political considerations.

ISBN 1 900175 827