Turkish forces acquitted in killing of father & son |
KHRP learned from the family of Ahmet & Uğur Kaymaz that the
four members of the Turkish security forces involved in their killing
have been acquitted of charges of excessive force. The verdict was
reached at Eskişehir Heavy Penal Court yesterday afternoon.
The killings, which prompted national and international attention, took
place in November 2004 in Kızıltepe, south-east Turkey. Ahmat and Uğur
Kaymaz were fired upon by undercover police a few metres from their
home, just before having their evening meal with their family. Post
mortem results revealed the ferocity of the attack on the father and
son: 12 year-old Uğur received thirteen bullet wounds to his body and
hands. His father Ahmet was shot four times. Claims by the security
forces that the victims were armed were denied by all witnesses at the
scene, and complaints made by the Kaymaz family prompted the indictment
of the perpetrators on charges of excessive force.
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On World Water Day 2007 Concerns over Ilisu Dam Project are More Pressing than Ever |
On today, World Water Day, KHRP would like to draw renewed attention
to the ongoing risk to the residents of south-east Turkey, Iraq, Syria
– and indeed the region as a whole-- posed by the Southeast Anatolia
Dam Project (GAP), in particular the proposed Ilisu and Cizre dams.
The
dams, which are to be built on the river Tigris around 65 kilometres
north of the Syrian border pending German, Swiss and Austrian funding,
would not only result in the displacement and dispossession of over 50,
000 mainly Kurdish inhabitants of the region. It would also destroy
countless sites of enormous historical, cultural and archaeological
importance, including the ancient town of Hasankeyf which bears the
marks of 9,000 years of Sumerian, Greek, Roman, Kurdish and Arab
civilisation. The disregard shown by the project for the cultural
heritage of the people of south-east Anatolia reflects the wider policy
of restricting cultural, linguistic and political life in the region.
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Turkey Pummels Freedom of Expression, Again |
It has come to the attention of KHRP that the Turkish Ministry of
the Interior has called on the State Council for the dissolution of the
Sur Municipality in Diyarbakir and the dismissal of its mayor Abdullah
Demirbas.
This follows a decision by the Municipal
authorities in October 2006 to provide its citizens with multilingual
municipal services, in order to properly address the multi-ethnic and
multi-lingual makeup of the municipality. A 2006 survey on the
linguistic composition of the municipality put the proportion of those
speaking Turkish at 24%, Kurdish at 72%, Arabic at 1% and Syriac and
Armenian dialects at 3%. In reaction to these findings a report by the
municipality's Commission on Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism
decided that there was a ‘need for a more participatory understanding
of municipal service provision… in order to provide healthier and
better municipal services for the local people and to render
educational, cultural and artistic activities locally more accessible'.
The council therefore approved the future provision of multilingual
services.
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KHRP Publishes Briefing Paper on Women’s Rights in the Kurdish Regions |
On today, International Women's Day, KHRP would like to draw
attention to the continuing struggle for women's rights in the Kurdish
regions.
As in many parts of the world, women in the
Kurdish regions face severe gender-based discrimination on a daily
basis. This is compounded in the Kurdish context by mass displacement,
conflict, ethnic discrimination and patriarchal social structures,
which expose women to discrimination and violence on two fronts, by
both state and non-state actors, across the public and private spheres.
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KHRP Calls for International and Local support for Kurdish Women’s Rights Activist Houzan Mahmoud |
KHRP wishes to express its support for Houzan
Mahmoud of the Organization for Women’s Freedom in Iraq following a
recent death threat issued against her by an Islamist group.
Houzan
Mahmoud and OWFI are outspoken advocates of women’s rights and
secularism in Iraq. They have been critical of the disturbing growth of
fundamentalist interpretations of Islam and sectarianism in recent
years and its detrimental effect on women’s rights.
Most
recently Houzan Mahmoud was campaigning against article 7 of the
Kurdistan Regional Government’s constitution, which provides for
Shar’ia to be used as a source for legislation. On 26 February she
received a death threat by email stating “we will kill you either in
Iraq or in London by the middle of March, because you are campaigning
against Islam”. The threat was signed Ansar al Islam, a Sunni jihadi
group from Iraqi Kurdistan.
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