February 22, 2009 Headquarters

Botas and Other Acid Wells Should Be Excavated, Disappeared Persons Should Be Found and Perpetrators Should Be Tried In A Court

An organization called as Gendarmerie Intelligence and Struggle Against Terrorism or JITEM could detain any person, whom they want, and examine and then execute arbitrarily since the beginning of 1990s in the East and Southeast of Turkey. When we, as human rights defenders, speak about these executions, we were tried and subjected to attack. Human Rights Association or IHD has started sit down protests regarding disappeared persons in Istanbul in 1995, actualized domestic and international legal mechanisms. In addition IHD Diyarbakir Branch has taken many files regarding disappearance under detention to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and Turkey has been convicted in many of these files. The State has been convicted in court cases, about disappeared persons under detention, before the ECtHR but neither disappeared persons nor perpetrators were founded.

Network of dark relations has revelaed in the traffic accident happened in Susurluk district of Balikesir in 1996. Turkish Grand National Assembly or TBMM prepared reports, however; investigations were stopped saying that these were the “State Secrets”. There were serious allegations, which were made before the State Security Court (DGM) in Diyarbakir, against JİTEM. Public prosecutors took statements and conducted investigations. Then, the process was stopped. Istanbul Security Directorate had started an investigation against GLADIO organization in 2001, but it was stopped. Confessions by Mr. Abdulkadir Aygan, a confessor, became a subject to be tried. The file was transferred from one court to the another saying that which court rule the case. There were extraordinary efforts to get prescription in the file. Many members of the JITEM organization including Mr. Abdulkerim Kirca, Mr. Arif Dogan, Mr. Veli Kucuk, Mr. Levent Ersoz and Mr. Abdulkadir Aygan are still being tried in this case.

The process, which has started with finding bombs accidentally in Umraniye district of Istanbul in 2007 indicates that there is secret GLADIO organization in our country and the organization has turned into Ergenekon Gang. The legal scope of the Ergenekon Gang does not cover east part of Euphrates though activities of the gang were practiced in the Kurdish region in our country. Not covering the east part of Euphrates is an thought-provoking issue. Aygan in his confessions says that %80 of executions were done by the JITEM and corpses were thrown into BOTAS wells in Silopi district of Sirnak province and Höyük that is behind the former JITEM building that is in Sur district of Diyarbakir. These confessions should be taken seriously and the required excavations should be carried out by the Prosecution Offices in Silopi and Diyarbakir. We came here today to draw attention for excavation of BOTAS death well. We hope the Public Prosecution Office in Silopi will continue its efforts as it did a preliminary investigation in the last week. We would like to express that the public opinion should know that we will follow the process. We will follow the process to create a public opinion to add families, via taking their statements, of those who were killed by unknown perpetrators and disappeared under detention, to collect the files in the region and examine them, to excavate all death wells; BOTAS wells, execution points in Silvan-district of Diyarbakir-route and around of JITEM building in Diyarbakir.

We know very well that guns, which were founded in Ankara and other provinces depending on statements and confessions by the perpetrators and left in roadsides in different provinces, were used in this region. There is no expressions about disappeared persons and unknown killings and the end of these people, who were killed, in these incidents while some perpetrators were determined and guns, ammunition stores were partially revealed. We know that most of the unknown killings and disappearance incidents happened in the period of 1993-1996 years while Ms. Tansu Ciller was the Prime Minister and Mr. Dogan Güres was the Commander of Turkish Armed Forces and Mr. Mehmet Agar was the General Directorate of Security Affairs. We call on authorities to touch those who are responsible for this dark period and the investigation should cover them, excavate BOTAS with presence of IHD and Bar Association, perpetrators should be tried before the court, the State should apologize families of disappeared persons.

Human Rights Association (IHD)