UN Convention Would Help Find the Disappeared

Turkey has yet to sign the Un treaty. İHD chair Öztürkdoğan explains how it would benefit efforts to determine the fate of around 1500 disappeared persons during the 1990s.

Tolga Korkut

"We want to know the fate of our missing relatives. We want justice, punishment for those committed those deeds and an apology for what we have suffered."

This is a common demand from almost all relatives of disappeared persons. Hatice Yıldız, who haven't heard from his son Murat since 1995 says not only those who took him away but the judges and the prosecutors who failed to bring about justice, are responsible.

"At least we have a spot to bring flowers," says Hasan Karakoç, whose brother Rıdvan's body was buried in Altınşehir after being tortured to death in police custody in 1995. "We're lucky, whatever that means," he adds.

"I want to know if my brother is dead or alive. If he's dead, I would like to be able to visit his grave." These are the words of Mehmet Ata Deniz, brother to former pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP) responsible Ebubekir Deniz, who went missing in 2001 in Silopi.

What would answer to all those demands is the International Convention For The Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance. Signed by 81 countries and ratified by 10, Turkey still avoids the convention.

Among the proponents of signing the convention since its initiation on February 2007, Turkey's Human Rights (İHD) chair Öztürk Türkdoğan explains that it would benefit hugely to efforts of determining the fates of the disappeared persons.

It would mean finding what have happened to them, "dead or alive." Moreover, the government would have to report to the international community about its doings regarding the cases of missing persons.

Yet, there's no clue about the government's stance on the issue. Detailed investigations would eventually involve military personnel of officials still on duty somewhere, says Öztürkdoğan. "I think everybody knows this and that's why they avoid bringing the convention into public's agenda."

On every occasion, relatives of the disappeared brought the names of former president Süleyman Demirel, PM Tansu Çiller, mayors of state of emergency rulings, former chief of police Mehmet Ağar and gendarmerie officials who worked in the southeast during the infamous 1990s.

According to İHD Diyarbakır branch there're about 1500 known cases of people who went missing after being taken under custody.(TK/AGÜ)