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HR Orgs to establish 'Foundation for the Investigation of Mass Grave

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  • HR Orgs to establish 'Foundation for the Investigation of Mass Grave

    Human Rights Organizations to establish `Foundation for the
    Investigation of Mass Graves'


    Uygar Gültekin 12.17.2014 21:58NEWS

    Human rights organizations have taken the decision to act in
    cooperation to establish a `Foundation for the Investigation of Mass
    Graves' under the supervision of the Human Rights Association (Ä°HD).
    The work to discover mass graves will be carried out according to
    periods, such as the 1915 Armenian Genocide, Kurdish rebellions after
    1925, and the Kurdish War.

    The recent history of Turkey is also a history of massacres. Thousands
    of people remain buried, and unaccounted for, their identities are
    unknown, and in some cases, even when they were massacred. Following
    the 1915 Genocide, and the Kurdish War that intensified in the 1990s,
    many excavations have unearthed bones. Calls have been made,
    prosecutors have been summoned, however, the state has taken no
    concrete step to deal with this issue. The few inquests carried out by
    prosecutors have yielded no results.

    The reality of mass graves has been on the agenda of human rights
    organizations for many years. The Diyarbakır Branch of the Human
    Rights Association (Ä°HD) in particular has for a long time carried out
    work to determine the locations of mass graves. The association has
    prepared a map of the locations it has managed to determine. According
    to the report released on 16 December 2014, Tuesday, 348 mass graves
    contain the remains of 4 thousand 201 people. The report does not
    include data on the 1915 Genocide.

    Human Rights Organization Join Forces

    Various human rights organizations operating in Turkey carry out work
    on mass graves. Human rights organizations have now taken the decision
    to join forces on the issue, and will establish a `Foundation for the
    Investigation of Mass Graves'. The preparatory work for the
    establishment of the foundation is almost complete. Human rights
    organizations including the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey and the
    Truth Justice Memory Centre support the project.

    İHD Diyarbakır Branch Chair Raci Bilici stated that the foundation
    would be established soon, and added: `Ä°HD has to work with restricted
    means. We are under both material and human resources constraints. We
    have only been able to focus on applications made to our association
    for a while now. The work on mass graves requires more material and
    human resources. Therefore, a separate foundation needs to be
    established, and a study that can also receive scientific support
    needs to be carried out.'

    Bilici explained that the work to discover mass graves would be
    carried out according to periods, such as the 1915 Armenian Genocide,
    Kurdish rebellions after 1925, and the Kurdish War.

    348 mass grave sites located

    According to the updated İHD Diyarbakır Branch mass graves report,
    there are 348 exhumed and unexhumed mass graves in Turkey, containing
    the remains of 4 thousand 201 people. According to the report, the
    cities in which most mass graves are located are Diyarbakır, Siirt,
    Bitlis, Hakkari and Bingöl. The `Mass Grave Map' prepared by Ä°HD
    focuses on the period when the Kurdish War intensified. The report
    also draws attention to the fact that the state has taken no concrete
    step regarding the issue despite repeated campaigns, calls and
    criminal complaints.

    A DNA Bank must be established

    In its report, Ä°HD also issued a call to prosecutors to take action
    regarding the forcibly disappeared. Ä°HD also demanded that military
    and civilian authorities to make public the documents they have in
    hand, that the graves be opened following preliminary work carried out
    according to those documents and data, and that the identities of the
    forcibly disappeared be determined through a DNA Bank that must be
    established. The report continued: `It is high time for Turkey to face
    the reality of mass graves in the region. Authorities must take action
    at once for the opening of mass graves.'

    The Ä°HD report also made a call for the establishment of a Truth
    Commission, and drew attention to international standards: `The search
    for the forcibly disappeared and the exhumation of graves must be
    carried out according to the Minnesota Autopsy Protocol and
    international standards pertaining to the exhumation of graves. The
    careless exhumation of graves using heavy machinery that leads to the
    destruction or loss of the remains of the forcibly disappeared must be
    prevented.'

    http://www.agos.com.tr/en/article/9976/human-rights-organizations-to-establish-foundation-for-the-investigation-of-mass-graves

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