Impunity for serious human rights violations in Turkey in the 1990s

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"Considering the present state of Turkey's democracy, the dynamics of the early 2000s when Turkey's full European Union (EU) membership negotiations started seems to have completely changed. It should be noted that the opening of criminal proceedings on these cases took place during the prevalent pro-democracy dynamics of this passing era.

"Today, we live in a new era that is characterized by rising populism, conflicts, post-truth and the refugee crisis, all with deep-rooted influences on the norms and practices of human rights.

"It is in this changing setting that we've seen the defendants previously accused of serious violations acquitted one by one, making the possibility of even a remote resemblance of a confrontation out of reach."

The Truth Justice Memory Center has published a report that analyzes impunity for serious violations of human rights of the 1990s.

"The Problem of Impunity for Serious Human Rights Violations Committed in the 1990s in Turkey: The Prosecution Stage" scrutinizes criminal proceedings of the cases so far initiated concerning these violations.

Prepared by Emel Ataktürk, Esra Kılıç, Gülistan Zeren, Melis Gebeş and Özlem Zıngıl, the 100-page report has the following sub-headings:

Research Subject and Method, Political and Historical Background, Examined Cases, Case Monitoring Findings, Evaluation and Conclusions, Requests and Recommendations.

In the report, an output of the Center's trial monitoring activities that have been conducted over failibelli.org for a while, the legislation practices and judicial attitudes that result in impunity are examined based on the findings derived from the observations at the hearings.

The report specifically focuses on 12 criminal cases of impunity:

• Ankara Case, Jitem/Musa Anter/Ayten Öztürk Case
• Cizre Case
• Görümlü Case
• Derik Case
• Kızıltepe Case
• Dargeçit Case
• Lice Case
• Kulp Case
• Altınova (Vartinis) Case
• Kızılağaç Case
• Yüksekova Case

On the occasion of this report, the Center is organizing an online webinar with a discussion on the problem of impunity in the context of the new dynamics Turkey is facing at the domestic, regional and global levels.

In the webinar, the findings of the report on the cases dealing with atrocities of the 1990s will be presented, building an insight into the effects and future implications of these new dynamics on the problem of impunity.

Agenda

The agenda of the webinar, which will take place on November 18 and where simultaneous interpretation will be available, is as follows:

15:00 – 15:15 Keynote Speech and Report Findings, Emel Ataktürk Sevimli
15:15 – 15:35 The Impact of Domestic Dynamics on the Unavailing Justice in Turkey, Serdar Tekin
15:35 – 15:55 The Impact of Changing Dynamics in Turkey's Relations with the EU on Local Human Rights Policies, Senem Aydın-Düzgit
16:55 – 16:15 The Failure of Democratization in Turkey in the Light of Regional and Global Dynamics, Evren Balta

You can register the webinar here

Prepared with the support of the Consulate of Sweden and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Turkey, the full report (in Turkish) can be accessed here

(AE/AS/SD)