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Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2019 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
g. Abuses in Internal Conflict

20-mar-20

More from the report:

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings b. Disappearance c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Prison and Detention Center Conditions d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees e. Denial of Fair Public Trial Trial Procedures Political Prisoners and Detainees Politically Motivated Reprisal Against Individuals Located Outside the Country Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies Property Restitution f. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence g. Abuses in Internal Conflict

Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties a. Freedom of Expression, Including for the Press Internet Freedom Academic Freedom and Cultural Events b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Freedom of Association c. Freedom of Religion: See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at https://www.state.gov/ religiousfreedomreport d. Freedom of Movement e. Internally Displaced Persons f. Protection of Refugees g. Stateless Persons

Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process

Section 4. Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government

Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights

Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons Women Children Anti-Semitism Trafficking in Persons: See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at https://www.state.gov/trafficking- in-persons-report Persons with Disabilities National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities Acts of Violence, Discrimination, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity HIV and AIDS Social Stigma Other Societal Violence or Discrimination

Section 7. Worker Rights a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

Clashes between security forces and the PKK and its affiliates in the country continued throughout the year, although at a reduced level relative to previous years, and resulted in the injury or deaths of security forces, PKK terrorists, and civilians. The government continued security operations against the PKK and its affiliates in various areas of the east and southeast. Authorities issued curfews of varying duration in certain urban and rural areas and also decreed "special security zones" in some areas to facilitate counter-PKK operations, which restricted access of visitors and, in some cases, residents. While Hakkari Province and rural portions of Tunceli Province remained "special security zones" most of the year, the government imposed curfews and "special security zones" less frequently overall than in 2018. PKK attacks claimed the lives of noncombatant civilians, including through kidnappings.

Residents of these areas reported they sometimes had very little time to leave their homes prior to the launch of counter-PKK security operations. Those who remained faced curfews of varying scope and duration that at times restricted their movement and complicated living conditions.

Killings: Estimates of casualties from government-PKK clashes varied considerably.

According to the International Crisis Group, from mid-2015 to the beginning of December, at least 1,220 security force members, 2,833 PKK terrorists, 490 civilians, and 223 youth of unknown affiliation died in PKK-related fighting.
The HRA claimed that in the first 11 months of the year, 97 security officers, 30 civilians, and 362 PKK terrorists were killed during clashes; 174 security officers and 38 civilians were reportedly injured.

The HRA asserted that security officers killed 12 civilians, including two killed due to armored vehicle crashes and injured in arbitrary killings throughout the country during the same period, including at government checkpoints and in government-PKK violence. Government data on casualty tolls was unavailable.

PKK tactics included targeted killings and assault with conventional weapons, vehicle-borne bombs, and IEDs. PKK attacks also claimed the lives of noncombatant civilians, including through kidnappings and extrajudicial killings. At times IEDs or unexploded ordnance, usually attributed to the PKK, killed or maimed civilians and security forces. On August 5, a PKK IED attack on a military vehicle in Nusaybin, Mardin, injured three soldiers. On June 23, a PKK IED explosion injured two shepherds in rural Hakkari Province. The HRA reported that, in the first 11 months of the year, IEDs generally attributed to the PKK killed three and injured three civilians.

According to state-run Anadolu Agency, as of July PKK attacks killed at least nine civilians, including children. For example, in June a 53-year-old shepherd was allegedly kidnapped and killed by PKK members in Kars Province. In July two more shepherds were found dead after allegedly being abducted by the PKK in Sirnak Province.

Abductions: The PKK abducted or attempted to abduct both officials and civilians, sometimes killing them (see Killings, above).

Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture: Human rights groups alleged that police, other government security forces, and the PKK abused some civilian residents of the southeast. There was little accountability for mistreatment by government authorities. In April a Gevas court acquitted a police officer who was accused of torturing four village residents in 2017. Although victims identified seven police officers, the prosecutor pressed charges against only one.

Child Soldiers: The government and some members of Kurdish communities alleged the PKK recruited and forcibly abducted children for conscription, while many in the country's Kurdish communities asserted that youths generally joined the group voluntarily. In September a group of mothers began a sit-in protest in Diyarbakir alleging the PKK had forcibly recruited or kidnapped their children and demanded their return. Authoritative data on PKK youth recruitment remained unavailable as of year's end.

Other Conflict-related Abuse: Extensive damage stemming from government-PKK fighting led authorities in 2016 to expropriate certain properties in specific districts of the southeast to facilitate post conflict reconstruction. Many of these areas remained inaccessible to residents at year's end due to reconstruction. In Diyarbakir's Sur District, the government expropriated properties for the stated goal of "post conflict reconstruction" and had not returned or completed repairs on any of the properties, including the historic and ancient Sur District of Diyarbakir Province and sites inside Sur, such as the Hasirli Mosque, Surp Giragos Armenian Church, Mar Petyun Chaldean Church, the Protestant Church, and the Armenian Catholic Church. Some affected residents filed court challenges seeking permission to remain on expropriated land and receive compensation; many of these cases remained pending at year's end. In certain cases courts ruled to award compensation to aggrieved residents, although the latter complained awards were insufficient. The overall number of those awarded compensation was unavailable at year's end.

Government actions and adverse security conditions impacted democratic freedoms, including limiting journalists' and international observers' access to affected areas, which made monitoring and assessing the aftermath of these urban conflicts difficult. In August the Ministry of Interior suspended the newly elected HDP mayors of Diyarbakir, Van, and Mardin based on allegations of support for terrorism. As of early December, the Ministry of Interior had suspended 28 HDP mayors. Because the mayors were suspended but not removed per 2018 antiterror legislation, locals did not have the opportunity to elect new representatives.

Source: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/
2020/03/TURKEY-2019-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf