Special Features

Hafıza Merkezi Newsletter: Summer-Fall 2016

Newsletter of the Truth Justice and Memory Center
Facebook
Twitter
Website
HURŞİT KÜLTER IS ALIVE!
Human rights organisations in Turkey have learned that Hurşit Külter, who has been missing without any information as to his whereabouts for 134 days, is alive, following his statement on October 7, 2016.

During his absence, appeals that have been made to the Governor of Şırnak, the Prosecutor’s Office at Şırnak and Şırnak City Police Department have remained futile, as his detention was denied despite witness accounts of his detention.

On June 23, it was announced that Ministry of Interior appointed a civil inspector to carry out an investigation about Hurşit Külter’s whereabouts, the findings of which have yet to be shared with the public.

Against this backdrop, reasons were not few for human rights organisations in Turkey – a country in which enforced disappearances and arbitrary executions have remained unrecognized and unaccounted for – to have grave concerns about the whereabouts of Hurşit Külter.

We are happy to learn that Hurşit Külter is alive.

We also abide by our demand and expectation for a full explanation as to Hurşit Külter’s disappearance, during which he alleged that he was detained and tortured.

Click here to read this statement from our website.

SUMMER SCHOOL ON HISTORICAL DIALOGUE AND DEALING WITH THE PAST
This year’s Summer School on Historical Dialogue and Dealing with the Past took place in Istanbul on June 13-18, 2016. Participants of the training were civil society professionals working in Middle East, North Africa and Caucasus on themes related to historical dialogue and dealing with the past.For the last 2 years, Truth Justice Memory Center (Hafiza Merkezi) has been implementing annual training and workshop activities within the framework of theRegional Network for Historical Dialogue and Dealing with the Past, a regional network initiative whose objective is to bring together civil society initiatives from across the MENA and Caucasus. Hafiza Merkezi has been implementing the network initiative in partnership with Columbia University’s Historical Dialogue and Accountability Program and Columbia Global Centers | İstanbul.

Extensive summaries and video recordings of the course presentations are available from our website.

COURSE LIST
CASE MONITING WEBSITE IS IN ENGLISH NOW!
Faili Belli (Perpetrator Not-Unknown) – a monitoring website devoted to cases with symbolic importance in coming to terms with gross human rights violations in recent history of Turkey – is now available in English. Currently, in line with Hafiza Merkezi‘sworking area, the website primarily focuses on cases related to enforced disappearances, functioning as an online platform where fact-based, up-to-date information on each of the monitored cases, as well as various related analytical articles, source documents and tools of legal intervention are available for the access of not only lawyers, but also journalists, researchers and other interested parties.

Enforced Disappearances and the Conduct of Judiciary

Hafiza Merkezi has been documenting legal data, which currently pertains to a total of 310 forcibly disappeared people. The analysis reveals that the complaints are specifically about five groups of government officials and/or paramilitary forces; primarily JİTEM(Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization), and also MİT (National Intelligence Organization), the Special Forces Command and police officers, informants andvillage guards affiliated with them. Analysis also reveal that the investigating prosecutors’ offices, in breach of the law, implemented very few or none of the procedures and mechanisms provided in criminal procedures and disregarded the rights of the victims. Some striking facts and figures indicating the systematic policy of impunity with regards to these cases are as follows:

  • Average time elapsed for investigations since the crime to present day is 19 years and 9 months,
  • Investigations are still ongoing and are protracted regarding files concerning 202 of the total 310 people (%xpercent),
  • Files concerning 25 people (%x) resulted in verdicts of non-prosecution (9 due to statute of limitation, 16 due to lack of evidence and other reasons),
  • 14 criminal cases have been filed concerning enforced disappearance of 83people.

Of the opened 14 cases regarding 83 people,
  • 7 cases pertaining to the disappearance of 34 people resulted in decisions of acquittal, 
  • 5 cases concerning the enforced disappearance of 47 people are currently ongoing.
  • Unfortunately, only 2 cases concerning 2 people resulted in conviction.
Click here to read a more detailed analysis on the conduct of judiciary on cases of enforced disappearances in Turkey. 
Update | August 16, 2016

We have updated our interactive visualizations regarding the civilians who lost their lives throughout the curfews in South East Turkey, based on the recent updating of the fact sheet produced by Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. The data presented have not been verified through forensic data and field work, that is due to both practical limitations and various forms of violations of the right to information (as explained here).The list is an ongoing work prepared by the obtained information as of 16 August 2016, which is open to changes with more access to confirmed data.

Click here to access to the updated data.

Reports on curfews 

In the Resources page of our website, we have opened a new section where we bring together published reports in relation to the curfews implemented in South East Turkey. In this section, you will find a wide range of reports drawn up by rights groups in Turkey on the human rights violations that took place as part of the curfews implemented in Kurdish cities from August 16, 2015 until today.

Click here for the reports.

Share
Tweet
Forward
Copyright © 2015 Hakikat Adalet Hafıza Çalışmaları Merkezi
Newsletter of the Hafıza Merkezi

Who is Hafıza Merkezi?
Hafıza Merkezi (Truth Justice Memory Studies Center) is an independent human rights organization based in Istanbul, Turkey that aims to uncover the truth concerning past violations of human rights, strengthen the collective memory about those violations, and support survivors in their pursuit of justice.

ICTJ: In Focus: Education in a Context of State-Imposed Amnesia

ICTJ In Focus 61
October 2016

In Focus

Divider

Lebanon: Education in a Context of State-Imposed Amnesia Lebanon: Education in a Context of State-Imposed AmnesiaWhile Lebanon is post-peace agreement, it is not necessarily “post-conflict.” The country struggles to address the legacy of decades of violence, and the lack of a comprehensive approach to dealing with the past means the country’s youth are growing up with scant knowledge of their history. But they want to know more: one project is helping them ask those around them about the past, and giving those who lived it a chance to tell their stories.

Read More…

ICTJ on Facebook ICTJ on Twitter ICTJ on YouTube ICTJ Podcast
Subscribe
SUBSCRIBE
Like ICTJ | In Focus: Education in a Context of State-Imposed Amnesia on Facebook
Forward to a Friend
Do you know someone that may be interested in the ICTJ newsletter?
Forward this Email
View Newsletter Archive

Other News

Divider

Transitional Justice and Media: A Crucial But Neglected RelationshipTransitional Justice and Media: A Crucial But Neglected RelationshipIn a society grappling with the legacy of the past, citizens must make informed judgements and disentangle the facts from the sticky web of political rhetoric, denial, and polarizing propaganda. To do so, they rely on one key agent of social change: the media. But how can transitional processes effectively partner with the media and engage key constituencies? And what happens when media play a decisively negative role in mediating information about war crimes?

Read More…

Ten Years After Peace, Is Nepal Finally Serious About Finding Its Disappeared?Ten Years After Peace, Is Nepal Finally Serious About Finding Its Disappeared?1,300 are still missing in Nepal, nearly a decade after the country’s bloody civil war ended. The peace agreement was meant to provide for the families of the disappeared, but today they are still searching for answers. As a new government body begins investigations, victims wonder: is the commission fully committed to addressing their needs?

Read More…

Divider

Publications

Divider

Media and Transitional Justice: A Dream of Symbiosis in a Troubled Relationship

In transitional contexts, reporting does not simply present the facts, but instead shapes the parameters for interpreting divisive political issues. Coverage in such polarized contexts can mitigate or obscure the substance of transitional justice efforts to establish what happened, who the victims were, and who was responsible for the violations.

Recommendations for Victim Reparations in Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire is obligated to provide reparations to victims of both the political violence that shook the country following the 2010 presidential elections and the different episodes of political violence and armed conflict since 1990.

More Publications

Upcoming Events

October 13, 2016

Lawyers, Conflict and Transition ConferenceLocation: Queens University, Belfast View Details

October 22, 2016

International Workshop on Historical Dialogue and Mass Atrocity Prevention Location: New York, NY View Details

More Events

War Crimes Prosecution Watch: Volume 11, Issue 15 – October 2, 2016

Case School of Law Logo

 
Founder/Advisor
Michael P. Scharf
 
War Crimes Prosecution Watch
Volume 11 – Issue 15
October 2, 2016
PILPG Logo
Editor-in-Chief
Kevin J. Vogel
Managing Editors
Dustin Narcisse
Victoria Sarant
War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. To subscribe, please email warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org and type “subscribe” in the subject line.
Opinions expressed in the articles herein represent the views of their authors and are not necessarily those of the War Crimes Prosecution Watch staff, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law or Public International Law & Policy Group.

Contents

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Syria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi

Atrocity Alert, No. 23

No Images? Click here

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

Syria

The temporary cessation of hostilities was declared to be over by the Syrian government on 19 September, one week after it started, following an escalation in clashes between government forces and armed rebels across the country. The fighting culminated on Monday in a horrific air strike on a UN humanitarian convoy in transit to opposition-held areas of Aleppo. At least 12 humanitarian workers were killed, including the Syrian Arab Red Crescent director Omar Barakat, and 18 aid trucks were destroyed.

Deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers is a war crime. The UN and other relief agencies have suspended all humanitarian convoys across combat lines in Syria. The United States government, which negotiated the ceasefire with Russia, has declared that it considers Russia responsible for the convoy bombing, based upon the terms of the cessation of hostilities agreement. Russia has stated that there is no evidence that the convoy was destroyed in an airstrike and has suggested that the trucks may have caught fire.

As world leaders meet this week for the opening of the 71st UN General Assembly, the conflict in Syria has featured prominently in speeches and side events, and will be highlighted in a UN Security Council meeting today, 21 September.

It is imperative that words of condemnation and horror finally translate into action. The Security Council must pressure all parties to the conflict to re-establish and respect the ceasefire, safely facilitate the delivery of unrestricted humanitarian aid, and recommit to negotiations for a political solution. The Security Council must investigate and hold the perpetrators of Monday’s airstrike and all other mass atrocity crimes in Syria accountable under international law.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

On 19 September political demonstrations throughout the DRC resulted in violent clashes between protestors and security forces. According to reports from Kinshasa, more than 17 people were killed, hundreds were detained by police, and five opposition headquarters were burnt down as violence continued overnight. The UN Secretary-General and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have condemned the violence. As discontent regarding the presidential election process grows, there is a risk of increasing state violence targeting perceived opposition supporters. Given DRC’s long history of civil war, mass atrocities and political instability, it is essential that all political leaders urge their supporters to refrain from further violence. The government should ensure that security forces exercise maximum restraint in response to protests. The UN Mission in the DRC must be prepared to protect populations at risk of further violence.

Burundi

On 20 September 2016 the UN Independent Investigation on Burundi (UNIIB) issued its final report to the Human Rights Council. The report detailed gross human rights abuses, attributing responsibility for the vast majority of violations to the government. Although it acknowledged that relative levels of violence in Burundi have decreased since December 2015, UNIIB asserted that this has come largely as a result of increased oppression. UNIIB concluded that some incidents may amount to crimes against humanity and that, “given the country’s history, the danger of the crime of genocide looms large.” It is essential for the government of Burundi to immediately end its assault on organized dissent, strengthen the rule of law and end impunity for crimes and abuses committed since April 2015. In light of the UNIIB report, the UN Security Council and African Union should urgently reassess options for human rights monitoring and an enhanced UN policing mission in Burundi.

Connect With Us