Skip to content

KHRP | Kurdish Human Rights Project

narrow screen resolution wide screen resolution Increase font size Decrease font size Default font size default color brown color green color red color blue color

Kurdish Human Rights Project: This is the legacy website of the Kurdish Human Rights Project, containing reports and news pertaining to human rights issues in the Kurdish Regions for 20 years.

You are here: 
Skip to content

Charity Awards

Charity Awards

Gruber Prize

Gruber

Gruber Justice Prize

EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AGREES TO INVESTIGATE 2 FURTHER COMPLAINTS AGAINST TURKEY
On the 28th November, 1994, the Commission of human rights agreed to investigate two further cases bourght by the Kurds agaisnt Turkey alleging human rights violations.

To date, the Commision has agreed to investigate a total of nine cases bought by the Kurds against Turkey alleging indiscriminate killings, murder, rape, dissapearances torture by the Turkish security forces and further alleging that the Turkish Goverment is pursuing a policy of death and destruction directed against Kurdish areas including the burnings of villages and the expulsion of of their inhabitants.

One of these two cases recentley declared admissible by the commission involves the allegation of rape in June 1993 of Sukran AYDIN, a sixteen year old Kurdish girl, whislt in custody at Derik Genarme Station Mardin, in south east Turkey. She was blindfolded, stripped naked and raped by an individual in military clothing. In the mean time the applicants sister inlaw was apparantly bought to the door and kept waiting, completley naked. Later the applicant and her sister in law were beaten and threatend that they should not tell anyone what they had done to her and that if she did other things would happen to her.

The second case involves a raid in June 1993 by over 400 soldiers on Islam village, Kulp. The applicant to the Commission, Ismwt ASKER, is a Kurd who alleges that his house was burned and destroyed by the soldiers. Before setting fire to the house, the soldiers told the applicant and his wife to go inside the house to gather their belongings. When they realised that the house had been set on fire, they rushed their belongings. In the meantime, the forces frightened other villagers and prevented them from putting out the fire, until the house had completely burned down.

The Commission's decision to investigate the cases represents a significant step towards the promotion of accountability, democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.

The individuals applicants were helped to take their grievances to Strasbourg by the Human Rights Association of Turkey and the Kurdish Human Rights Project in London. The KHRP has assisted over 200 individual applicants to bring complaints before the Commission involving allegations of arbitrary executions, indiscriminate killings, destruction and evacuation of villages, torture, rape, disappearances and persecution of lawyers and MPs.