Arrests and court cases against KCK/TM

Since April 2009 about 1.800 people have been detained on allegations of being members of the illegal Union of Communities in Kurdistan/Parliament of Turkey (Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan/Türkiye Meclisi = KCK/TMKCK Par lament Turkey ) mainly in the South-East but also other parts of Turkey . Most of them were politicians active in the meanwhile closed down Democratic Society Party (DTP) or the Party for Peace an Democracy (BDPPeace and Democracy Party ). Trade unionists and human rights defenders have also been among the detainees.

Detentions in 2010

The daily reports of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFTHuman Rights Foundation of Turkey ) presented the following items in detentions and arrests of alleged members of the KCK/TM in 2010.

Sixty people were detained in the operation against the members and executives of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in İstanbul, Antep, Antalya, Mersin and Ağrı Province on 5 January 2010 on the grounds that they are members of Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan-Kurdistan Communities League /Assembly of Turkey (KCK/TM). 25 people in İstanbul Province, 20 in Gaziantep Province, Nine in Antalya Province, three in Mersin Province and three in Diyadin District of Ağrı Province were detained in the operation. 21 out of the 22 people detained in Gaziantep were arrested on 8 January 2010. In Bursa 3 of 9 members of BDP were also arrested 8 January. 38 members and executives of the Student Association of Yüzüncü Yıl University (YÖDER) were detained in home raids in connection with the operation against the Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan-Kurdistan Communities League /Assembly of Turkey (KCK/TM) in Van Province on 11 January 2010. Seven of them were arrested on 15 January. 72 people were detained in the raids on houses of members of BDP in Bitlis Province on 12 January 2010. On 21 January some 70 people were detained in Batman, Van, Diyarbakır, İstanbul, Iğdır, Muş, Van, İzmir, Ağrı and Kars. Arrest warrants were issued against 28 people in in Batman, seven in Iğdır and 17 people in Istanbul.

On 3 February 2010 16 members of the BDP were detained in Gaziantep. Of them Ferdun Karcan was arrested on 5 February. On 10 February operations were conducted in Hakkâri, Şemdinli and Yüksekova district, and Ömerli district of Mardin and in Batman. More than 20 people were detained. On 12 February more than 20 people were detained in İstanbul, Ağrı (Patnos dsitrict), Şırnak (Cizre dsitrict) and Şanlıurfa. 15 of the 32 detainees in Hakkari were arrested on 14 February. The next day arrest warrants were issued in Batman against 9, in Ağrı against 7 and in Diyarbakır against 5 people. On 16 February arrest warrants were issued against 16 people in Mardin. On 17 February arrst warrants were issued against 8 out of 12 detainees in Van, 7 out of 16 detainees in Siirt gegen 7 von 16, 8 out of 15 detainees in Gaziantep, 9 out of 20 detainees in Adana amd against two out of six detainees in Bingöl. In Çukurca district (Hakkari) arrest warrants were issued against 6 out of 14 detainees on 23 February.

On 10 March 2010 the police detained 17 people on suspicion of being members of the KCK/TM in Yüksekova district (Hakkari). The 14 detainees in Siirt included members of the BDP and the Human Rights Association (HRAHuman Rights Association ). Among them Sıdık Taş, chair of the BDP in Siirt, Vetha Aydın, chair of the Siirt branch of the HRA, the politicians Kadriye Cengiz, Belkıza Epözdemir and the trade unionist Ferit Epözdemir were arrested on 19 March. On 23 March 7 out of 24 people who had been detained in Antalya were arrested. In Eskişehir 12 people were detained on 30 March. Four of them were arrested on 1 April.

Among the 14 people, who were detained in Kars on 14 May 2010 for being members of KCK/TM eight were arrested on 17 May. Two out of nine people detained in Aksaray were arrested on 22 May. In Aydın 20 people were detained on 24 May. In Kars nine people were detained on 22 May. Four of them were arrested in 25 May. On 24 May some 65 people were detained in Aydın, Tunceli, Elazığ, Malatya and Şırnak (Cizre district). Arrest warrants were issued against 44 of them.

Seven out of 10 people detained in Ağrı as members of the KCK/TM were arrested on 7 June 2010. In Van 6 arrest warrants were issued on 8 June. In Hakkari 11 arrest warrants were issued on 9 June. On 23 June another nine people were detained in Hakkari. On 26 June six of them were put in jail.

Two of five people detained in in Hakkari on 25 August 2010 were arrested on 29 August.

Court cases against alleged KCK/TM members

On 22 June 2010 İzmir Heavy Penal Court No. 8 went on hearing the case against 31 members and executives of Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESKConfederation of Trade Union in the Public Sector ) who had been detained on 28 May 2009 on charges of "being members of Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan-Kurdistan Communities League /Assembly of Turkey (KCK/TM). The court decided to ask for the files of the case at Diyarbakır Heavy Penal Court No. 6 and postponed the hearing to 22 October 2010. The hearing on 22 October was adjourned to 1 February 2011. The first hearing had been held on 20 November 2009. After this hearing all defendants in pre-trial detention had been released after six months' imprisonment.

On 8 July 2010 Diyarbakır Heavy Penal Court No. 6 went on hearing the case against 61 people who had been detained in the operation against Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan-Kurdistan Communities League /Assembly of Turkey (KCK/TM) in Şırnak Province on 17 June 2009. The head of the court forced the defendants who replied in Kurdish during the identity check and documented the incident as "the defendants replied in a language that could not be understood". The hearing was adjourned to 14 October 2010.

On 27 July 2010 Erzurum Heavy Penal Court No. 2 started to hear the case of 30 defendants, 14 of them in pre-trial detention who had been detained in operations against alleged members members of KCK/TM (Turkey Assembly) in Iğdır on 21 January 2010. The mayor of Iğdır, Mehmet Nuri Güneş is among the defendants. The court took the identities and statements of the defendants, ordered the release of four defendants and adjourned the hearing to 24 September 2010. After this hearing Abdulbari Terik, Şahab Çelik and Aziz Çam were released, while four defendants Mehmet Nuri Güneş remained in prison. The hearing was adjourned to 2 December 2010.

Adana Heavy Penal Court No. 8 went on hearing the case against 22 defendants who had been arrested in the operation against the KCK/TM in Gaziantep Province on 17 September 2010. The court heard the 22 defendants, released 10 of them and prolonged the pre-trial detention period of 12 defendants and adjourned the hearing to 26 November 2010.

On 1 October 2010 Adana Heavy Penal Court No. 7 went on hearing the case against 48 defendants -32 of them in pre-trial detention- who had been detained in the operation against KCK/TM in Mersin Province on 21 January 2010 on charges of "being a member of an illegal organisation" under Article 314 of TPCTurkish Penal Code . After taking the testimony of the defendants the court decided to release 22 defendants and prolonged the pre-trial detention period of 10 defendants. The next hearing will be on 8 December 2010.

On 13 October 2010 Diyarbakır Heavy Penal Court No. 6 went on hearing the case against 11 pre-trial detainees who had been detained and then arrested as KCK/TM member in Batman Province on 24 December 2009. After taking the testimony of the defendants the court released 6 of them and prolonged the pre-trial detention period of the other 5 defendants.

Diyarbakır Heavy Penal Court No. 4 went on hearing the case against 20 defendants -16 of them pre-trial detainees- who had been detained in the operation against KCK/TM in Mardin Province on 14 February 2010 on charges of "being a member of an illegal organisation” under Article 314 of TPC on 15 October 2010. After hearing the testimony the defendants the court released 7 defendants and prolonged the pre-trial detention period of 9 defendants and adjourned the hearing to 9 December 2010.

The central trial in Diyarbakir

On 18. October 2010 Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No. 6 started to hear the central case against 151 defendants, 103 of them in pre-trial detention. They had been detained during five waves of detentions since 14 April 2009 and are charged with membership of KCK/TM. The prosecutors İsmail Aksoy and Adem Yılmaz prepared the 7578-page indictment in 15 months. The detainees requested that they be allowed to defend themselves in Kurdish during the trial. The court rejected the request the next day, saying it based its decision on related European Court of Human Rights resolutions.

The court agreed to have a summary of the indictment been read out. Until 22 October 400 of the 900-page summary had been read out. Repeated requests to release the defendants were dismissed, until the court has heard their testimony.