No Evidence of Clash in Kurdish Girl Slaying
A previous statement by the local governor's office had said Ozbek was traveling in a car with her family and was caught up in a crossfire between secure forces and "terrorists". It also said two terrorists were killed during the incident.
"There was no indication at the scene of the incident that there had been a clash" said Saadet Becerikli, chairwoman of the IHD Batman Branch and delegation member.
"We saw no sign of the two grenades that according to the statement were thrown by the [other] two persons killed."
Family in shock and tense
Becerikli explained that they had requested a meeting with the governor's office and as soon as talks were held with officials, they would make public the findings of their investigation.
She said Mizgin's family, including her mother Samiye Ozbek who is being treated in hospital for bullets wounds from the same gunfire, were in shock and also worried. Becerikli added that a request they had made to interview mother Ozbek at hospital had been turned down by the family.
"Mizgin was a nine year old child and should have been protected before anything else" Becerikli said, noting that "if the vehicle had not been sprayed with bullets, if the security forces had not used excessive force, the two persons who could not be identified and Mizgin would have been alive now. The security forces did nothing to protect the life of a small child who was in the vehicle".
Brother Hadi: No warning, corpses sprayed with bullets
Mizgin's elder brother Hadi Ozbek who was driving the car when the incident happened confirmed previous reports that he had picked up two hitchhikers who were the two later identified by officials as terrorists.
He said, however, there was no clash and that security forces opened fire on the car at a checkpoint.
"After I accepted two people I did not know into the car, I realized they were armed" Ozbek explained. "They also had a bag in front of them. I do not know what was in it.
"When we came close to the security checkpoint, we had alarming moments. I suddenly found myself come nose to nose with an armored vehicle. If I had not been able to stick the front of my car under the panzer perhaps we too would not be alive today. Even if they warned us to stop, we did not hear it. My mum dropped her head into my lap during the incident".
Ozbek said that it was only after they were physically stopped at the checkpoint by the panzer that the frightening incident took place.
"From top of the panzer bullets were fired one after another to the back seats of the car" he said. "Bullets raining also hit Mizgin. Those inside the car didn't have a chance to open fire. Suddenly I heard a sound from behind but I do not remember.
"After the guns went silent, those in the back seat were taken out. Later they shot the corpses with bullets. I can't forget that moment. I am still in shock. What was the crime of my 9-year-old sister? I don't know what to say."
Clash or not?
Findings of the delegation and any available witness statement with regard to the incident so far contradict the crux of the official version that Mizgin's death was unavoidable because she was caught up in cross-fire.
The two-armed persons in Ozbek's car, identified, as hitchhikers both by Mizgin's mother and brother, were "terrorists" according to the original statement issued by the Batman Governor's Office.
It said the incident happened at a checkpoint in a rural zone of the Taslidere village of Batman's Kozluk district and the two suspects had opened fire on security forces with long-range weapons. Mizgin Ozbek who was in a car was killed and her other Samiye was wounded and later taken to the Batman State Hospital. The two "terrorists" meanwhile, were killed and their weapons alongside 2 kilogram of C-4 explosives were confiscated.
Becerikli told bianet earlier that they regard the case as a violation of the right to life for three individuals while raising concern that the country's controversial new Anti-Terror Law may be leading to extra judicial killings.
He also quoted mother Samiye Ozbek saying in hospital the same day, "I was ill. Together with my son Hadi and daughter Mizgin we were going to the hospital in Batman. On the way, two teenagers hitchhiked. We picked them up. As we were carrying on, suddenly bullets started to rain on us. Our car was sprayed with bullets." (KO/TK/II/YE)
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