Impunity in Kızıltepe JİTEM case as appeals court upholds acquittals

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An appeals court has upheld the verdict in the Kızıltepe JİTEM case, which concerns the extrajudicial killings of 22 people in the Kızıltepe district of the predominantly Kurdish-populated province of Mardin between 1992 and 1996.

The Ankara 5th Heavy Penal Court had acquitted the defendants on September 9, 2019. The plaintiffs had appealed against the decision at the 2nd Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Justice

The 2nd chamber ruled for lack of jurisdiction and sent the file to the 19th Chamber, which ruled that the appeal should be dismissed on the merits.

The appeals court stated that it had found no inaccuracies in the court ruling.

Erdal Kuzu, a plaintiff attorney, said, "The 19th Chamber stated that the lapse of time was imminent regarding the charges that the defendants were acquitted of. The reason for this is the Ankara Regional Court of Justice and the relevant chambers. The file has been at the appeals court for two years."

Every kind of evidence is present for the defendants to be punished, according to the attorney.

What happened?

A lawsuit was filed against nine people in relation to the murder and enforced disappearance of 22 people in the district of Kızıltepe in Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin between the years of 1992 and 1996.

The names the ones who were murdered or disappeared: Abdulvehap Yiğit, Süleyman Ünal, Mehmet Nuri Yiğit, Tacettin Yiğit, Zübeyir Birlik, Abdulbaki Birlik, Kemal Birlik, Zeki Alabalık, Menduh Demir, Nurettin Yalçınkaya, Necat (Şemsettin) Yalçınkaya, Mehmet Emin Abak, Hıdır Öztürk, Abdulvahap Ateş, Mahmut Abak, Yusuf Tunç, Şeyhmus Kaban, İzzettin Yiğit, Yusuf Çakar, Abdurrahman Öztürk, Mehmet Ali Yiğit and Abdulbaki Yiğit.

Defendants of the case: Retired Colonel Hasan Atilla Uğur, Diyarbakır Provincial Gendarmerie Commander of the time Colonel Eşref Hatipoğlu, Gendarmerie Company Commander Ahmet Boncuk, Sergeant Major Ünal Alkan and the then village guards Abdurrahman Kurğa, Mehmet Emin Kurğa, Ramazan Çetin, Mehmet Salih Kılınçaslan and İsmet Kandemir.

In 2014, a lawsuit was filed against these people on charges of "establishing or leading an armed organization, being members of an armed organization and killing deliberately." Before the trial started, it was transferred to Ankara for reasons of security.

The first hearing of the case was held at the Ankara 5th Heavy Penal Court on March 3, 2015. The indictment was presented in the hearing on April 27, 2016.

One day later, defendants deposed at court, but they stated that they would not answer the questions of complainant lawyers.

In his opinion as to the accusations, the prosecutor expressed the opinion that there was "no need" for arrest or judicial control measures for the defendants. The relatives of the deceased boycotted the hearing on June 24, 2016, stating that "no fair trial was held."