ISTANBUL - 23 years have passed since 30 prisoners were murdered in the raids carried out under the name "Operation Return to Life". While not a single responsible person was punished, lawyers want the government officials of the period to sit in the defendant's chair.
Prisoners opposing Type F prisons turned the hunger strike they started on October 20, 2000 into a death fast on November 19. The ANAP and MHP coalition, 20 prisons were raided on December 19 of the same year under the name "Operation Return to Life" with the decision of the Democratic Left Party (DSP). While the prisoners resisted the raid, 30 prisoners were massacred in the military attack. Additionally, hundreds of prisoners were injured.
Even though 23 years have passed, not a single person responsible for the murder of the prisoners has been punished. The trial of 194 soldiers regarding the attack on Bayrampaşa Prison continues. At the last hearing, the request to issue a "forced arrest warrant" against the then Minister of Internal Affairs, Sadettin Tantan, was rejected. The court decided that the lawyers would ask questions via petition.
After the operation, Type F prisons were established; thus, human rights violations in prisons increased and isolation was further deepened.
Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) Headquarters manager Güçlü Sevimli, who represented the families of the prisoners in the ongoing trial, evaluated the events of that period and the trial process.
THE BLOODIEST PRISON OPERATION
Stating that the operation carried out at that time was a "massacre operation", Lawyer Sevimli said: "The reason for this operation was that they wanted to change the penal execution model as a whole. The aim was to switch to the Type F prison model. At the time of the operation, DSP, MHP and ANAP were in power. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Sadettin Tantan; Minister of Justice, Hikmet Sami Türk; The Prime Minister was Bülent Ecevit."
Stating that the operation was managed from a single center, Sevimli said: "Chemical substances were used in the operation. We think it was white phosphorus. This operation was the bloodiest and most comprehensive prison operation in the history of the republic. After the operation was over, political prisoners and convicts were placed in the opened Type F prisons."
Noting that the Type F prison model is an execution model based on isolation, Sevimli said: "We see this when we look at the situation of prisons today. The current execution model based on isolation is valid not only for political prisoners but also for judicial prisoners."
A SINGLE CASE IS ONGOING
Stating that after the operation, lawsuits were filed against the prisoners with allegations such as "starting a riot in the prison, damaging public property", Sevimli said: "Very few soldiers who took part in the attacks were sued. Some of these investigations were dismissed. In the cases filed, an acquittal decision was given. There is only one case left currently pending today. That is the case in which soldiers, including some high-ranking soldiers from the military unit that carried out the operation regarding the deaths in Bayrampaşa Prison, were tried. Many important documents were revealed within the scope of the case."
'THE DEFENDANTS SHOULD BE TRIED'
Stating that he did not have hope that the soldiers would be punished in the ongoing case regarding Bayrampaşa Prison, Sevimli said: "The case was heading towards statute of limitations but these trials had the following benefit; thanks to these trials and lawsuits, a lot of information and documents regarding the Return to Life Massacre came to light. This was also very useful, and perhaps this was the only benefit. Most of the information and documents I mentioned are related to the operation. It was operational information, orders and instructions, and documents belonging to various gendarmerie commands. The emergence of these was significant in terms of revealing the material truth."
Sevimli continued as follows: "Although 23 years have passed since the operation, names such as the then Minister of Internal Affairs Sadettin Tantan, the Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Türk, and the General Director of Prisons and Detention Houses Ali Suat Ertosun have not been placed in the dock. These are the people who have legal responsibilities in this massacre operation. These people who are defendants also should be tried. We will continue to keep this massacre, called 'Return to Life', on the public agenda. We will not forget it and will not let it be forgotten."
MA / Ömer İbrahimoğlu