‘Gökhan Güneş’ statement by law organizations

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Lawyers' Solidarity, Progressive Lawyers Group, Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), Lawyers for Democracy, Kartal Lawyers Association and Lawyers for Freedom Association have released a statement about the abduction and torture of Gökhan Güneş in İstanbul.

In their statement about the incident, the law organizations have referred to the JİTEM organization, or the Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism, which is accused of thousands of enforced disappearances in Kurdish-majority regions of Turkey during the conflict in the 1990s:

CLICK - Gökhan Güneş: They systematically tortured me

Forced to get in a car in İkitelli, İstanbul on January 20, the fate and whereabouts of Gökhan Güneş were unknown for six days.

He returned to his family's house in the same town in Başakşehir in the morning on January 26. Making a statement later in the day, he said that he was detained for 6 days and systematically tortured.

CLICK - Abducted in İstanbul, Gökhan Güneş returns home

'State remained silent, paramilitary is involved'

In their statement about the abduction and torture of Gökhan Güneş, the law organizations have briefly said the following:

"Gökhan Güneş, on January 20, was abducted by four persons by being forced into a vehicle after he got off the public bus in front of his workplace.

"From the moment when Gökhan Güneş was abducted to the early morning hours when he returned home today, all institutions of the state, instead of finding him, remained silent and tried to intimidate his family members and friends who were making efforts to find him, which shows that paramilitary forces have been involved in this incident."

'It is not a coincidence'

Referring to the 90s within the context of the enforced disappearance of people with "white toros" cars, their killing and the ensuing judicial processes "only for show," the organizations have said, "It is not a coincidence that the leftovers of the JİTEM, openly protected by the government and its partners for the last few years, have risen again."

"While the effects of the oppressive regime intimidating dissidents have been obvious since the coup attempt on July 15, it is also apparent that the JİTEM, which was the perpetrator of several incidents of kidnapping, torture, massacre and threat in the 1990s, has been brought forward with the ganging up within the state within this context," they have said.

'A new illegal organization'

Noting that the camera footage showing the moment when Güneş was kidnapped could be obtained thanks to the efforts of his family and attorneys, the law organizations have stressed that "the law enforcement and prosecutor's office, instead of finding evidence and kidnappers, used the law as a stick by launching an investigation against the ones who handed the evidence as to his moment of abduction to his family and attorneys."

"Unable to turn young people at the center of opposition politics into agents, the leftovers of the JİTEM have been resorting to gang activities of every stripe by getting organized as a new illegal structure," the law organizations have said, adding that "if Gökhan Güneş could return home today, it was thanks to the ones who did not give up asking, 'Where is Gökhan Güneş?'." (AÖ/SD)