Families of the Disappeared Call Prosecutors to Take Action

The families of the disappeared declared that the Ergenekon defendants are to be held responsible for the disappearance of their relatives. In a meeting in Beşikatş (Istanbul) on the occasion of the "International Week for the Struggle against Disappearances in Custody" from 17-31 May, the families requested the Ergenekon case prosecutors to try the responsible people.

The ultra-nationalist Ergenekon organization is a clandestine terrorist organization charged with various crimes staged for the ultimate purpose of triggering a military coup.

The president of the Human Rights Association (İHD), Gülseren Yoleri, read a joint press release issued by İHD; the Association for Solidarity and Support of Relatives of Disappeared People (YAKAY-DER) and the International Committee against Enforced Disappearances (ICAD).

"We are here for our spouses, our fathers, our siblings and our mothers who were burned in heating boilers and thrown from helicopters and buried in mass graves. We are here to demand the prosecution of the defendants of the Ergenekon case, perpetrators form the military, politicians and bureaucrats for "crimes against humanity", Yoleri said.

'Perpetrators should be prosecuted'

"The disappearances of our relatives were enforced by the co-operation and the secretiveness of the 'gangs of the deep state' of the General Staff, who have blood on their hands, the political powers, politicians from the Ministry, members of the judiciary who guided the oppressive state and the media that covered up the truth".

Yoleri addressed the Ergenekon prosecutors and continued, "Dear Mr Prosecutor, the names of the perpetrators responsible for the disappearance of our relatives are mentioned in the Ergenekon indictment, in the files at the European Court of Human Rights, in the witnesses' statements and in the statements of the task forces of deceased members of the military, the intelligence and JİTEM [illegal Gendarmerie Intelligence Anti-Terrorism Unit]. Despite concrete information and documentation, no single member of the judiciary investigated the perpetrators of the disappearances or processed the petitions of the relatives of the disappeared".

"Perpetrators of the disappearances not unknown"

The group held up banners reading "The perpetrators of the disappearances are not unknown" and pictures of the disappeared persons. They furthermore posted a list of the names of 182 people who disappeared in custody between 1995 and 1996.

The program of the Week for Enforced Disappearances includes a visit to the graves of Hasan Ocak and Rıdvan Karakoç on 19 May; a visit to the Altınşehir cemetery on 25 May entitled "We are searching for the disappeared"; a torchlight procession from the İHD Istanbul Branch to the Tünel Square on the European side of Istanbul in the evening of 25 May and a subsequent 30-minute sit-down demonstration with lit candles. (BT/VK)