Peace Mothers to apply to constitutional court against police violence

Peace Mothers and the relatives of prisoners, who held a sit-in protest to support the hunger strikes that started in prisons in November 2018 and ended in May 2019, were battered and insulted by police many times. The mothers, who had been subjected to police violence, filed a criminal complaint against police officers. While the Governor's Office didn’t allow an investigation to be opened on the ground that the police violence against the mothers “did not constitute a criminal offense”, the mothers’ lawyers applied to the Court of Appeal but the court ruled the same thing. The lawyers will apply to the Constitutional Court.

MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed – On November 8, 2018, Kurdish politician Leyla Güven started a hunger strike in prison to call for the end of the isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. Then, prisoners across Turkey started a hunger strike. After Abdullah Öcalan made a call to hunger strikers and death fasters to put an end to their protests “as they have achieved their purpose”, Leyla Güven and thousands of prisoners ended their hunger strike. During the hunger strike, the member of the Peace Mothers and relatives of prisoners started a sit-in protest for the demands of hunger strikers to be met. But police battered them and dragged them to the ground. After being subjected to police violence, the mothers filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office. The Diyarbakır Governor's Office, which decided the physical attacks and insults against the mothers “did not constitute a criminal offense,” did not allow an investigation to be launched into the incident.  Then, the mothers’ lawyers applied to the Court of Appeal but the court ruled the same thing. The lawyers will apply to the Constitutional Court.

A preliminary investigation was carried out against 49 police officers

On May 5, 2018, police attacked the sit-in protest of the Peace Mothers in the Koşuyolu Park. Peace Mothers Hayriye Türkekul, Yaşar Akboğa, and Rabia Ataş, who were subjected to police violence and insult, filed a criminal complaint with the Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor's Office. After the criminal complaint was filed, a preliminary investigation was carried out against 49 police officers, including two neighborhood watchmen. However, the Diyarbakır Governor's Office didn’t allow an investigation to be launched against the police officers on the ground that the act of the police officers “did not constitute a criminal offense.”

After the decision of the governor’s office, the lawyers of the mothers applied to the Court of Appeal. Several days ago, the Gaziantep Administrative Court rejected the application of the lawyers on the same ground.

Lawyers will apply to the Constitutional Court

The lawyers will apply to the Constitutional Court due to the exhaustion of domestic remedies.

What had happened?

Thousands of inmates started an indefinite and non-alternate hunger strike to support the indefinite hunger strike started by Leyla Güven in November 2018. The hunger strike demanding the end of the isolation imposed upon Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan lasted seven months. The Peace Mothers and relatives of prisoners held a sit-in protest for the demands of hunger strikers to be met. However, they were battered, insulted, and detained by police many times. The hunger strike ended on May 26, 2019.