HAKKARI - Stating that they were battered by the soldiers after they reacted to the detention of their clients, ÖHD Hakkari Branch Co-chairs, Harika Günay Karataş and Fırat İke said: "They want to leave the Kurds defenseless."

 

A military operation was launched on June 26 in the Astenga Reş region, located in the rural areas of Şîşemzîn, Xurekana Seyîda and Xurekana Temo villages of Hakkari. During the operation, 13 villagers were battered and detained. The Hakkari Branch Co-chairs of the Association for Lawyers for Freedom(ÖHD) Hakkari Association, Harika Günay Karataş and Fırat İke, who went to the District Gendarmerie Command to see the villagers, were battered by the soldiers and dragged out of the police station.

 

ASSAULT REPORT SHOWS BATTERY

 

11 of the 13 people who were detained during the operation were released after their statements were taken at the Yüksekova District Gendarmerie Command yesterday evening. Behçet and Birhat Engüdar brothers, who are still under custody, were reffered to Yüksekova State Hospital for an assault report as a result of the initiatives of ÖHD and Human Rights Association (İHD) Hakkari Branch members. The report shows that the brothers who were detained for 2 days, were subjected of assault and ill-treatment.

 

The attorneys who were battered at the police station told the Mesopotamia Agency (MA) what happened.

 

THE DE FACTO DETENTION

 

ÖHD Branch Co-Chair Harika Günay Karataş stated that in addition to being battered, she was subjected to sexist insults at the police station. She stated that they learned that the villagers were not detained at the police station, but that they were there only to "give information". Pointing out that this situation is also detention and stating that the assault started while they were protesting against it. Karataş: "We saw that a citizen who was taken into custody was brought to the interview room while being beaten by the soldiers. They did the same thing to us when we tried to stop them. After we were battered and dragged out, our co-chair was also subjected to brutal battery. I was held by my arms and legs, dragged on the ground and battered."

 

'TORTURER' COMMANDER

 

Saying that Yüksekova District Gendarme Commander was known as a "torturer", Karataş said: "The commander named B.K., who ordered the torture, did the same thing to us and another colleague in August last year. Back then, 7 shepherds in Tiloran village were tortured by the gendarmes."

 

ISOLATION AND WAR POLICIES

 

Pointing out that what is happening in the Kurdish cities stems from war policies, Karataş said: "The recent attacks cannot be thought apart from the detention of politicians in Adana and the arrest of 16 free press workers in Diyarbakır. There has been a policy of isolation on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan for 23 years. They are trying to use this policy as a tool of pressure against everyone who is fighting for freedom and defense. The TAF(Turkish Armed Forces) are attacking civilian areas due to the increase in the loss of soldiers in the armed clashes and this situation still continues in the Van and Hakkari regions.

 

'WE WILL NOT GIVE UP'

 

Stating that the oppressions against Kurds are not new, ÖHD Branch Co-Chair Fırat İke said: "They are attacking the area of defense just as they are attacking politicians.   They want to liquidate us and leave the Kurdish people defenseless. We will continue to resist these oppressions at all times and in every field. We will not stop defending these people even we are subjected to battery and violence.