EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AGREES TO INVESTIGATE 2 FURTHER COMPLAINTS AGAINST TURKEY
Press Release: 12 December 1994
On the 28th November, 1994, the Commission of human rights agreed to investigate
two further cases bourght by the Kurds agaisnt Turkey alleging human rights
violations.
To date, the Commision has agreed to investigate a total of nine cases bought by the Kurds against Turkey alleging indiscriminate killings, murder, rape, dissapearances torture by the Turkish security forces and further alleging that the Turkish Goverment is pursuing a policy of death and destruction directed against Kurdish areas including the burnings of villages and the expulsion of of their inhabitants.
One of these two cases recentley declared admissible by the commission involves the allegation of rape in June 1993 of Sukran AYDIN, a sixteen year old Kurdish girl, whislt in custody at Derik Genarme Station Mardin, in south east Turkey. She was blindfolded, stripped naked and raped by an individual in military clothing. In the mean time the applicants sister inlaw was apparantly bought to the door and kept waiting, completley naked. Later the applicant and her sister in law were beaten and threatend that they should not tell anyone what they had done to her and that if she did other things would happen to her.
The second case involves a raid in June 1993 by over 400 soldiers on Islam village, Kulp. The applicant to the Commission, Ismwt ASKER, is a Kurd who alleges that his house was burned and destroyed by the soldiers. Before setting fire to the house, the soldiers told the applicant and his wife to go inside the house to gather their belongings. When they realised that the house had been set on fire, they rushed their belongings. In the meantime, the forces frightened other villagers and prevented them from putting out the fire, until the house had completely burned down.
The Commission's decision to investigate the cases represents a significant step towards the promotion of accountability, democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.
The individuals applicants were helped to take their
grievances to Strasbourg by the Human Rights Association of Turkey and the
Kurdish Human Rights Project in London. The KHRP has assisted over 200 individual
applicants to bring complaints before the Commission involving allegations
of arbitrary executions, indiscriminate killings, destruction and evacuation
of villages, torture, rape, disappearances and persecution of lawyers and
MPs.
Please e-mail KHRP at khrp@khrp.org, to be placed on our Press Release mailing list.
For further information please contact: Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director / Fiona McKay, Deputy Director / Sally Eberhardt, Public Relations Officer Kurdish Human Rights Project on the address below.
