Murdered Kurdish Inmates Remembered

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at locust.etext.org>

American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
Press Release #28
Contact: Kani Xulam
Tel: (202) 483-6444
September 24, 1997

A Year Ago Today, 10 Kurdish Inmates Were Beaten To Death In
Turkey!

     Today marks the second anniversary of the brutal death of 10
Kurdish inmates in Diyarbakir Prison in Turkey by 29 Turkish
police officers and 36 Turkish soldiers. 23 other Kurdish inmates
were also heavily injured at the time of this altercation.
     While the government of Turkey has launched an investigation
into this deadly attack, no one to this day has been convicted of
the crime.
     On September 19, 1997, almost a year after the incident, a
trial was held at the 3rd Court Room in the Palace of Justice in
Diyarbakir. Two of the non-commissioned officers, Erol Demir and
Hamza Gorgulu, and another soldier, Solmaz Karaoglan, were
questioned about their part in the crime.
     One of the non-commissioned officers, Erol Demir, noted,
"The inmates threw rocks, soap, and iron rods at us. The iron
rods landed on the heads of inmates who were closer to us. The
inmates injured themselves."
     Ahmet Sever, a survivor of the massacre, still an inmate,
told the court his version of the event. "It was a visitation
day. We knew that our loved ones would bring us food. We asked
the prison wards to allow us to borrow some containers from our
fellow inmates on other floors (as we had done in the past) so
that we could take the food to our rooms. They locked us into the
waiting room. Then, the doors opened and soldiers and police
officers attacked us. They were shouting, 'Allah, Allah, Allah'
and 'Death to the PKK'. We shouted back, 'Death to the torturers'
and 'Human dignity will prevail over the torturers'". Mr. Sever
went on to say, "They subdued all of us. We were all on the
ground. They asked us who Ridvan was. They beat him to death in
front of us. I also witnessed the death of Ahmet Celik. I saw his
crushed head."
     The 10 Kurdish inmates who were killed were prisoners of
war, members of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK),
the armed wing of PKK. They were: Ridvan Bulut, Ahmet Celik,
Cemal Cam, Mehmet Aslan, Edip Dilence, Nimet Cakmak, Hakki Tekin,
Kadir Demir, and Erkan Perisan.
     At the 3rd Court Room, Mrs. Hedipe Perisan spoke for Erkan
Perisan, her son, one of the victims of this brutal attack: "This
massacre was pre-planned."
     The Court was adjourned until October 23, 1997.
     Four members of the Turkish parliament who went on a fact
finding mission to the city of Diyarbakir and spoke with some of
the witnesses of this event recommended to the Turkish parliament
that the accusers ought to stand trial and also noted that they
should have used tear gas to incapacitate the inmates as opposed
to using force to end their lives.

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Washington, DC 20008-1522

Tel: (202) 483-6444
Fax: (202) 483-6476
E-mail: akin at kurdish.org
Home Page: http://www.kurdistan.org
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