Eren Keskin: The policy of forced disappearances has continued in Turkey since 1915
About 1,388 people have been forcibly disappeared in Turkey, particularly in the region where Kurds live, since 1980. There are many cases about forced disappearances but many of these cases have been dropped for lack of evidence after the files have been kept on the dusty shelves for years. Relatives of forced disappearances have struggled for years demanding that their lost ones be found and those responsible be brought to justice. Human Rights Association (IHD) has determined the period from 7th May to 31st May as, “Week of Disappeared People”. “The policy of forced disappearances has continued in Turkey since 1915,” said Eren Keskin, Co-chair of the IHD.
MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU
Amed – In the 1990s, Kurdish people raised their struggle for existence while many people became the victims of forced disappearance, unsolved murders, oppression, torture, and their villages were burned down. 1,964 people became the victims of unsolved murders between 1989 and 1999, say the reports. Human Rights Association has been commemorating the period from 17th May to 31st May as “Week of Disappeared People” since 1995 to bring the disappearances issue to the agenda every year demanding those responsible be brought to justice.
“Forced disappearance in detention is a state policy”
Human Rights Association (IHD) Co-chair Eren Keskin stated that Turkey's policy on disappearances has been always repeated, and those responsible are rewarded with impunity. Forced disappearance in detention is a state policy; Eren Keskin said that this issue began in the 1915s. Reminding that the forced disappearance in detention against the opponents has been a policy since the period of the Committee of Union and Progress, Eren Keskin stated that Turkey is still run by the same policy.
“Files have been kept on the shelves for years”
Eren Keskin noted that as human rights defenders, they encountered forced disappearances in detention most in the 90s, “That was a period when the Kurdish problem emerged. The state forces began to practice disappearance in detention. As a lawyer, I have also followed many cases of forced disappearances. We observe the same thing in all cases; the prosecutors, unfortunately, don’t evaluate any evidence. No necessary investigation has been carried out. These files have been kept on the shelves of the prosecutors for 20 years and these cases have been dropped for lack of evidence at the end.”
“The Republic of Turkey hasn’t signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance because forced disappearance in detention is a state policy. Because this convention says forced disappearance is a crime against humanity,” Eren Keskin said, “If Turkey had signed the convention, it wouldn’t drop the cases.”