5 Children and 3 Adults Killed in Şırnak in 15 Months
A joint report issued by the Bar Association of Şırnak, the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) and the Human Rights Association (İHD) revealed that eight people, five of whom were children, were killed by explosives or in police interventions throughout the past 15 months. 12 people were wounded. 13 different incidents resulted in only one arrest and three trials without a single detained defendant.
Ali Bayram, the Vice President of the Şırnak Bar Association, introduced the report in a press release issued in the centre of Şırnak, a city in the pre-dominantly Kurdish region of south-eastern Turkey. He urged the government for legal amendments to prevent the death of people and to assure a fair trial for the perpetrators.
Only three trials and one arrest
The report depicts the incidents that occurred in the province of Şırnak during the past 15 months as follows:
* 9 October 2009: 18-month-old Mehmet Uytun died as a result of a gas bomb that hit him in the family's home. The police threw the gas bomb in the course of an intervention against demonstrators in the street. The investigation is still being continued. There are no arrests.
* 8 February 2010: 23-year-old Hecer Oslu was shot by a group of gendarmerie officers on a countryside highway. He died. Eight gendarmerie officers are being litigated, the trial is still pending. There are no arrests.
* 12 March 2010: A group of people was taken under gunfire in the Balveren Municipality because they were alleged cigarette smugglers. A male called Kerem Gün died. A trial was opened against some of the involved people on duty. There were no arrests.
* 5 May 2010: Gendarmerie officers shot at a group of alleged cigarette smugglers in the Balveren Municipality. Hüseyin Artuç died, M. Cevat Ayas was wounded. A trial was opened against some of the involved people on duty. There were no arrests.
* 3 June 2010: Ten-year-old Diren Basan was killed when he got under a vehicle of the Special Operations Team in the centre of Şırnak. The driver of the vehicle is being prosecuted. There are no arrests.
* 10 July 2010: An eleven-year-old child was severely injured in an explosion of some kind of material s/he had found and that exploded in the child's hand. The incident happened in the Sulak village in the district of İdil. No trial was opened.
* 26 July 2010: Motorcyclist Vedat Akın was injured when he was hit by a military vehicle that had exceeded the speed limit in İdil. The investigation about the driver of the vehicle was forwarded to the Diyarbakır 7th Corps Military Prosecution.
* 5 October 2010: Twelve-year-old Ahmet İmre died in an explosion close to the Güçlükonak military unit. Another child was severely injured. The investigation at the Cizre Public Chief Prosecution is still pending.
* 10 October 2010: Seven-year-old Umut Furkan was lethally hit by a civil vehicle when he was running away from an armed combat car that was used for an intervention against demonstrators.
* 11 November 2010: Four-year-old Saliha Nujiyan İdem died in an explosion when she was playing in the garden of her home in İdil/Aslantepe. Her six-year-old brother lost his hands, one foot and one eye in the explosion. The investigation is still being continued. There are no suspects.
* 14 November 2010: A twelve-year-old child who was called by a military officer was severely wounded in the explosion of G3 infantry rifles at the İkizce battalion. Officials announced that the military officer was arrested and detained in the Diyarbakır Military Prison.
* 25 November 2010: Three civilians who worked in a garden were injured by gun fire shot from the military unit in the city centre. The reason for the shooting is not known. No investigation was launched into the incident.
* 27 November 2010: The eyes of a ten-year-old child were injured by a gaz bomb thrown by the police as an intervention against demonstrators in Cizre. It is not known yet whether an investigation has been initiated. (SP/VK)