33 Years of the İHD, 15 Directors and Members of Which Killed From Vedat Aydın to Tahir Elçi

*Photo: Funeral of Tahir Elçi in 2015

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The Human Rights Association (İHD) was founded on July 17, 1986, by 98 people including journalists, writers and academics to "improve human rights and freedoms and reduce human rights violations."

Fourteen members and directors of the İHD were killed until 2002: Diyarbakır Branch Founding Member Vedat Aydın, Batman Branch Board of Directors Member Sıddık Tan, Urfa Branch Board of Directors Member İdris Özçelik, Urfa Branch Board of Directors Member Kemal Kılıç, Van Branch Member Orhan Karaağar, Erzincan Branch Member Cemal Akar, Tatvan Representative Şevket Epözdemir, Elazığ Branch Chairperson Metin Can, Elazığ Branch Member Hasan Kaya, Urfa Branch Founding Member Muhsin Melik, İzmir Branch Member İkram Mihyas, İstanbul Branch Member Didar Şensoy, Bursa Branch Board of Directors Member Tacettin Aşçı and Bursa Branch Member Ahmet Aydın.

Thousands of lawsuits were filed against the İHD. This number rose to 15 after Diyarbakır Bar Association Chairperson and İHD member Tahir Elçi was killed in 2015.

Some of the İHD members continued rights defending in politics. Selahattin Demirtaş, the imprisoned former co-chairperson of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Meral Danış Beştaş, an HDP MP, Ayla Akat, a former MP from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), and Osman Baydemir, a former MP from the BDP and former Diyarbakır mayor are just a few of those.

"Those who were tortured were being convicted"

Muharrem Erbey, who was the İHD Diyarbakır Chairperson between 2000 and 2009, was behind bars between 2009 and 2014. Speaking to bianet, he said, "First years of the 2000s were the period that came immediately after the period when the burning down of villages, violations of the right to life, violations of the right to life caused by war remnants were at their highest. In this period, lawsuits and parallel lawsuits were being filed.

"Public officials, security forces and village guards were committing rights violations. Extrajudicial executions and incidents of torture were being subject matters of lawsuits.

"The crime which the public officials committed were being covered up. Incidents of torture were occurring. Those who were tortured were filing lawsuits. But the courts were giving nonsuit verdicts. When those who committed torture filed parallel lawsuits, those who were tortured were being convicted. It was the period impunity was most visible."

"We are prevented from being visible"

Abdullah Zeytun, the İHD Diyarbakır Chairperson, said that there are widespread and systematic rights violations:

"While the violations continue, people see the İHD as a place to make their voices heard. İHD is working for the violations of rights to be visible but is being prevented in every way. The sit-in protests that were being held under the slogan, 'The missing should be found, the perpetrators should be tried' were banned by the Governorship of Diyarbakır. The protests have been done at the İHD Diyarbakır Branch building for 44 weeks.

"Violations of rights are occurring in prisons. We want to state these before the prisons but it is banned. In the period of curfews, we wanted to examine the violations of rights on site but it is banned to go to the places where there is a violation." (MB/EKN/VK)