‘The state has once again disregarded the right to life’

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The Human Rights Association (İHD) and Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) Adana branches have released a press statement about the death of 16-year-old Muharrem Aksem in Urfa province.

Working as a shepherd in the Micit (Çalışkan) Neighborhood in the Eyyübiye district of Urfa, Aksem was found dead on March 24 in the area where the police use as a shooting range. With some body parts smashed, some metal pieces yet not identified were found in his body.

In their press statement in Adana, another southern province, the rights and law groups have said, "We will not normalize yet another massacre".

'The state is openly responsible'

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the press statement was read out by lawyer Umay Büyükdağ at the press conference held in the İHD Adana Branch yesterday (March 29). Umay Büyükdağ said that the state is openly responsible for the death of Aksem.

Underlining that the right to life, the most basic and indispensable human rights, has been once again disregarded by the state, she said:

One more child has been massacred. It makes no difference to us whether the incident was an accident or not. Just like the deaths caused by armored vehicle crashes, we will not normalize yet another massacre. We do not accept it. We will not accept it.

'Torture, ill treatment, violations of right to life'

Referring to Article 17 of the Constitıution, which says, "Everyone has the right to life and the right to protect and improve his/her corporeal and spiritual existence", the lawyer stressed that the right to life is the foundation of all rights and it cannot be stopped or destroyed even at times of war, martial law or states of emergency. Büyükdağ briefly added:

"While the state already fails to fulfill its positive obligation, its duty to keep people alive, it openly violates its obligation to not violate the right to life. Let alone fulfilling its responsibilities stemming from being the state, we do not accept the torture, ill treatment and violations of right to life that it inflicts via its agents in Kurdistan and all across Turkey; we expose them once again".

Concluding her remarks, Büyükdağ said:

"While we know the attitude of the state and all agents of the state in similar cases, we would like to recall that penalizing the responsible parties by conducting an effective investigation will prevent similar incidents under the name of 'accidents' from happening. This obligation of investigation within the context of a right that has been violated and needs to be protected is in fact the primary responsibility of the state as well".

What happened?

On March 24, 2022, near the Organized Zone of the Eyyübiye district, in Çalışkan Village, the deceased body of 16-year-old Muharrem Aksem was found. Meeting the family after the incident, the Urfa Bar Association Human Rights Center shared the following information:

"In our talks with the family, we were told that the child had told his friends, 'I will go to find a dog', the place where he went was the place where the security had a test-fire and the deceased body was the place where the police came for a test-fire. On the day of the incident, the family could reach their child at 4.30 pm the last time and when they asked them where he was, he said that he was in the field with the animals. As he did not come after this phone call, the father went to his children, told them to go to the police station and started searching for him with their relatives.

"According to the information that we receive from the people living in that region, there are witness statements indicating that the police were constantly going to an area some 500 meters away from the house and practicing shooting there and gunshots were heard until 6 pm that day.

"They found the deceased body of their children in that region at 10 pm. It is indicated that he has shrapnel marks in his body, there were shells powerful enough to destroy a stone such as a smoke shell, the child did not have his hand, it was smashed, his body was in pieces and when they went there, there was a smell of gunpowder".

In a statement released by the Governor's Office, it was indicated that "the area was a shooting range, but Aksem did not have bullet remains in his body". In the death examination report, it was indicated that 12 metallic objects in different sizes were taken out of the body of Aksem.

Aksem family's lawyer Hatice Akıllı Öz has said that they are waiting for the autopsy report to be issued by the Specialized Board of the İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institution to learn the exact cause of death. (AS/SD)