Report sui fatti Sirnak

Human Rights Delegation: The incident is an extrajudicial execution and

mass massacre.

ŞIRNAK – IHD (Human Rights Association) and MAZLUMDER (The Association of

Human Rights and Solidarity For Oppressed People) delegations, who prepared a preliminary

monitoring report by on-site examining the incident of the massacre of villagers bombed

by war crafts in Ortasu (Roboski) village allied to Uludere town in Sirnak, declared that the

incident is a total extrajudicial execution and mass massacre. In the report, Hacı Encü, who

survived from bombing, recorded that they were blocked by the soldiers and bombed by the

war crafts.

IHD and MAZLUMDER delegations, who went to Uludere for on-site examination of the

incident of the massacre of villagers bombed by war crafts in Ortasu (Roboski) village

allied to Uludere town in Sirnak, announced the preliminary monitoring report. The

preliminary monitoring report prepared by IHD Head Office administrators, IHD Diyarbakir,

Hakkari, Van, Siirt and Mardin Branches, and MAZLUMDER Head Office administrators,

MAZLUMDER Hakkari and Diyarbakir Branch administrators hit the high spots.

Stated in the report that the delegation arrived in Uludere town in the evening and went to

the hospital that corpses were waited in, it follows as “It is observed that the hospital was

crowded, the corpses were waited randomly in the rooms wrapped with the blankets, and their

families were watching over the corpses. It is determined that the autopsy was performed in

a hall in the basement of the hospital next to the heating boiler room; a part of the hall was

divided to two parts by closing with sheets and the autopsy was performed behind the curtain;

only one lawyer from Sirnak Bar Association was allowed to be present on behalf of the

families; two prosecutors were carrying out the operations and only 6 corpses’ autopsies were

completed by 18.30.”

It was also stated in the report that the corpses were in the hospital and the ones who lost their

lives were between the ages of 12 and 28; and the incident was occurred at the zero point of

the border.

The witness of the incident: We were blocked by the soldiers and the war crafts bombed

us

The following statements of Hacı Encü who has 19 years, survived from the incident and

interviewed in the hospital were included in the report:

“We, a group consist of 40-50 people, crossed to the Iraq side of the border with the same

number of mules to bring fuel and food product at 16.00 pm on 28.12.2011. We didn’t

particularly inform the military guard post, however they already knew that we were going

and returning. Our aim was to bring sugar and fuel. We even heard the voice of Unmanned

Aerial Vehicle (UAV) but we went on moving because we were always going and returning.

In the evening, at 19.00 pm, we departed after we burdened the mules. Around 21.00 pm, we

approached to the border. We arrived to the plateau of our villages, the plateau just on the

border. In there, they threw at first aircraft flare and then they started to artillery-howitzer

shooting. We left our burden in the other side of the border. Right after, the war crafts came

and bombardment started. We were two groups, and, there was about 300-400 meters distance

between us and the group behind. Just after the first artillery shooting, the war craft came.

Because the soldiers were blocked our plateau, there were no way to go. Therefore, the groups

had to come together. At the end, we became two big groups. At the first bombardment, the

group that consist of approximately 20 people was killed. Right after, we started to back

away. The ones who stayed amidst of the rocks were being bombed. The group which I was

also with was 6 people; 3 of us managed to survive. We had daily civil clothes and nobody

was carrying a gun. The incident lasted around 1 hour. We, one-two people soaked into a

small creek with 3 mules. After waiting for one hour in there, we sheltered ourselves under

a rock. We didn’t heard anything from our friends. Around 23.00-23.30 pm, we understand

that the villagers came when we saw lights and heard voices. While the villagers started to

scream, the soldiers withdrawn from the plateau. It is a long time that we do this job. Two of

them were married, the others were highschool and primary school students. Till now, nobody

called me to give a statement. I saw no soldiers after the incident.”

“The soldiers were aware of this situation”

The determinations of the delegations were ranked in the report as follows:

“ It is determined that;

-All the killed and wounded people in the incident were civilians,

-In the course of incident, the group wasn’t warned to STOP and there were no warning, the

security forces were fired in no way, the soldiers didn’t fire individually, the aircrafts made

bombardment and this caused people to die,

-Civilians were well-known by the security forces who stay in the incident scene, and,

security forces were aware of this go-return for border trade.

-Although we didn’t see on site, the same way is always being used for the border trade,

known by everyone including security forces; the way that was used wasn’t a pathway and

had mine on the way,

-Contrary to official statements, the incident scene is far away from the region called as Sİnat-

Haftanin; one of the groups that was attacked was on the Turkey side of the border and the

other group was on the Iraq –Turkey border,

-None of the official institution had an initiative to get the corpses after the incident and

the soldiers were totally withdrawn from the incident scene; the corpses were taken by the

villagers and brought to Gulyazi village with their own means.

-The conditions of the hospital are not appropriate for the autopsy, the corpses were randomly

waited in the rooms, the corpses were wrapped with the blankets by their families, the staff of

the hospital was inadequate, even we could say scarcely any and the corpses were carried by

the villagers to the autopsy and ambulances,

-The evidences after autopsy will not be taken in due form because of current conditions,

therefore, obfuscation of the evidences is highly possible,

-The corpses which seen by our delegation in the hospital were burned, their innards were in

out, scalp of most were shattered and their physical integrity was shattered,

-In the incident, a high explosive and caustic ammunition was used.”

“It is an extrajudicial execution and mass massacre”

In the report it was recorded that a more detailed report should be prepared about the

incident, it was stated “Our delegation has concluded that the incident is an extrajudicial

execution and mass massacre in terms of killed people’ number. In this sense, it is concluded

that civil society organizations should show awareness to make examining; Human Rights

Committee of United Nations should urgently send a delegation; Turkish media should

approach to this massacre in the framework of press ethics keeping out from ‘the statements

of official institutions’ and show awareness to reflect the reality to the public.