Use of Firearms Should be Investigated

Spokesman Ismail Caliskan of the Police Headquarters, on the other hand, said the security forces in Diyarbakir behaved with discretion and prevented the worsening of the situation.

"The use of firearms by security forces in recent incidents is unacceptable," said lawyer Meral Danis Bestas, a board member of the Diyarbakir Bar Association. "The demonstrators did not possess any firearms."

"While they could easily disperse the demonstrators through other commensurate means, they used disproportionate force."

Danis Bestas underlined the fact that not only police forces but troops and special police teams also intervened in the demonstrations. "Security forces are obliged to act within a legal framework when intervening in such illegal demonstrations," said Danis Bestas. "They should have detained demonstrators and referred them to court. They caused the death of civilians and children."

Danis Bestas said nine-year-old Abdullah Duran, who was killed during the incidents, was not among the demonstrators but at home.

Prosecutors should take action at once and begin investigation

Husnu Ondul, the former head of the Human Rights Association and lawyer Ergin Cinmen of the Istanbul Bar Association, argued that the prosecutors should begin investigating the commanders who ordered the use of firearms and the members of the security forces who caused the death of civilians.

"The right to live, which is the most basic right, has been abated," said Danis Bestas. "Both, those who ordered the use of firearms and those who fired shots should be held responsible."

The lawyers advocated that each incident of death is a separate offense and added the following points should be clarified during the investigation:

* They should determine where the bullets entered the body and where they exited, through body examination reports and autopsy reports.

* They should determine what kind of guns were used in the killings through autopsy reports and the bullet shells.

* Eye witnesses and security forces should be made to testify. Cinmen explained why it is important to determine where the bullets entered the body and where they exited:

"The autopsies of those who died through firearms during the demonstrations in Hakkari, revealed that the bullets entered the bodies form above. This means that there were security forces deployed high up and that they fired guns on certain targets. "

Ondul said that the prosecutors should investigate the issue without waiting for a legal complaint.

The police and troops do not have the right to fire shots on demonstrators

Ondul talked about the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, and said according to these principles, law enforcement officials may use firearms only under exceptional circumstances.

"Law enforcement officials may use force and firearms only when strictly necessary; the use of force or firearms should be commensurate," said Ondul. You cannot fire guns at a demonstrator who is hurling stones. And when you do, you have to fire shots in the air or to parts of the body which would not cause death. The law enforcement officials should give a clear warning of their intent to use firearms, try to persuade or set up barricades. There is need for gradual measures."

The Human Rights Watch Group, referring to the incidents in November 2005, during which some demonstrators were killed, said: "There is no evidence that the demonstrators used firearms. It is clearly a disproportionate use of force, to use automatic pistols to disperse the crowd."

Cinmen and Danis Bestas added that there are clear provisions in internal law, which specify conditions under which the police forces may use firearms. According to these provisions, police forces may use firearms for self-defense purposes, to save lives, or when inevitable.

Ondul: Extrajudicial killings generally go unpunished

After calling on the prosecutors to take action at once, Ondul added that such incidents in Turkey usually go unpunished.

"Law enforcement officials can very easily use firearms and fire at targets," said Ondul. "And those who are involved in such a behavior are usually protected by the juridical system." (TK/EA/YE)