Uğur Kaymaz murder: Policy of denial left perpetrators unpunished

  • actual
  • 12:19 20 November 2024
  • |
img

MÊRDÎN - While it has been 20 years since Uğur Kaymaz was killed along witb his father, lawyer Erdal Kuzu said: "The policy of denial has lef the perpetrators unpunished."

12 year old Uğur Kaymaz and his father Ahmet Kaymaz was shot in front of his house int the Qoser (Kızıltepe) district of Mêrdîn (Mardin) on Novamber 21, 2004. It has been 20 years since the murder of Uğur Kaymaz. In the autopsy, 13 bullets were removed from the body of 12-year-old Kaymaz and 8 from his father. A kalashnikov gun larger than Uğur Kaymaz's body was left next to Kaymaz in an attempt to make the incident look like a "conflict". After the photo in question was released, The Mardin Governorship of the time claimed that "two terrorists preparing for an attack were killed" and tried to cover up the incident. 
 
TRIAL PROCESS
 
In the incident, attempts were made to protect the perpetrators from the beginning. As a result of the struggle of the lawyers and the family, a case was opened against police officers Mehmet Karaca, Yaşafettin Açıkgöz (Serdar Gökbayrak), Seydi Ahmet Döngel and Salih Ayaz on charges of "exceeding the limits of legitimate defense and killing a person in a way that the perpetrator cannot be identified." The case opened at the Mardin High Criminal Court was later transferred to Eskişehir on the grounds of "security" and the trial against the 4 police officers resulted in an acquittal on the grounds of "acting in legitimate defense."
 
The 1st Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation approved the decision "unanimously", and after domestic remedies were exhausted, the lawyers of  Human Rights Association (İHD) Mardin Branch took the case to the European Court of Human Rights. In the case where an acquittal decision was given in Turkey, The Court, in its decision announced in February 2014, convicted Turkey on the grounds that Ahmet Kaymaz and Uğur Kaymaz's "right to life violated". However, despite the Court's decision, no retrial was held. The Constitutional Court also rejected the request for a retrial, arguing that the Court decision was a "discretionary decision".
 
ATTACK ON THE KAYMAZ FAMILY, REWARDS TO THE PERPETRATORS
 
Despite 5 years have passed since the file went before the supervisory authority regarding the non-implementation of the Court decisions in 2019, no developments have occured. During this period, one of the defendants in the file, Yaşafettin Açıkgöz, a police officer who changed his name to Serdar Gökbayrak, was killed during the coup attempt on July 25, 2016. Regardless of whether Uğur Kaymaz was the perpetrator, the perpetrator's name was given to an overpass in Kocaeli. While the perpetrators were left unpunished, In 2016, the trustee appointed to the Qoser Municipality began by demolishing the statue erected in memory of Uğur Kaymaz and the murdered children. Then, on November 21, 2016, the anniversary of the massacre, Makbule Kaymaz, a mother working at the municipality, was dismissed from her job by a Statutory Decree. The name of the park built by the Derik Municipality in memory of Uğur Kaymaz was also changed by the trustee. When the municipality, which was transferred to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) after the March 31 elections, wanted to rename the park after Uğur Kaymaz, the Derik District Governor claimed that Uğur was “affiliated with an illegal organization.” In addition, on the 19th anniversary of the murder of Uğur and his father, their graves were attacked twice in a row by unidentified individuals.
 
'WE ARE HANKERING FOR JUSTICE'
 
Noting that as the Kurdish people and Kurdish children, they are hankering for justice for years but could not find it, Uğur Kaymaz's brother Alişer Kaymaz said: “If my brother were alive today, he would be 32 years old and would be with me. However, unfortunately; they took him and my father from us 20 years ago. We have been fighting for 20 years, saying that justice would come. However, it got worse every passing day. As we said justice, they attacked and protected the perpetrators. But we did not give up. Maybe we could not get results from the courts, but we convicted the perpetrators, those who gave them this order and those who protected them in the conscience of the people. We stand behind our cause today. We will continue to stand behind our cause until the last day.”
 
REASON OF THE KURDISH ISSUE HAS NOT BEEN SOLVED
 
Erdal Kuzu, the lawyer of the case who evaluated the 20 years that have passed, pointed out that what the Kurdish issue is and why it has not been solved can be read through the murder of Uğur Kaymaz and his father. Noting that the Kurds have been living in a system where their identities have been denied since the establishment of the state, “Unfortunately, this system has been continued until today. Uğur Kaymaz is one of the biggest victims of this system and also one of the biggest indicators of why the problem has not been solved. Despite the fact that 20 years have passed since his murder, the state has not even apologized to the family and has not wanted to accept the fact that Uğur was a civilian child. In this context, the trial was conducted only to acquit the people who killed him, to sanctify their actions and to sanctify the state behind him," Erdal Kuzu said. 
 
‘THE DENIAL POLICY LEFT THE PERPETRATORS UNPUNISHED’
 
Noting that what happened was a continuation of the “impunity policy” that has been systematically implemented in Turkey since the foundation of the republic, Kuzu said that the “sanctity of the state” lies behind this. Kuzu continued as follows: “The perpetrators are still living in society with impunity. Perhaps, some of them are still continuing their duties. Therefore, the killing of Uğur Kaymaz and his father Ahmet Kaymaz can easily understand what the Kurdish problem is, why the Kurdish issue has not been solved, and why the state has developed a policy of impunity. It is accepted by the entire society that Uğur was killed as a result of an extrajudicial execution. The state’s approach towards denial has led to the perpetrators of Uğur being left impunity.”
 
MA / Ahmet Kanbal

View More Articles

25/11/2024
11:30 UN 2023 report: Most dangerous place for women is their home
11:06 Investigation against beaten by police for 'resisting to prevent fullfill of duty'
10:18 JINNEWS Violence tally: 316 women murdered in 10 months
10:03 Kurdish and women centers becomes first targets of trustees
09:32 Alevi women reacts trustees and says we will not bow down
09:28 The book he wrote found 'objectionable' to give him
09:17 Ayşe Gökkan says let's create united women's struggle
24/11/2024
13:47 What men say about violence against women?
13:00 Life of 'democratic nation' built by women
12:55 Dr Achkar says organised women's struggle needed in Lebanon
23/11/2024
20:45 Women chant 'Jin, jiyan, azadî' slogans against Diyarbakır Governorate's ban
16:58 'The government lost against resistance of the people of Dêrsim'
16:48 Release of women ill prisoners demands
16:07 DEM Party Co-chair Hatimoğulları says Dêrsim does not bow oppression
15:02 'We do not accept decision ignores will of the people'
15:00 Mass trustee protest in Dêrsim
13:48 Stories of unidentified murders
13:07 Saturday Mothers says they will not give up demand for justice
12:22 Judge arrests 84 per cent disabled person using 'conviction'
11:46 MLSA report: 233 years imprisonment for 76 people in 10 months
11:22 Trustee turned Dêrsim Municipality into police station
11:03 Lawyer Bilmez says it is time for Öcalan's freedom
10:17 'In Rojava, economy has ceased to be an instrument of violence'
09:54 People of Gewrik against cyanide mine: We will not let it pass
09:19 'Exploitation of women's bodies is normalized with concepts'
08:57 Women's power across borders
22/11/2024
21:49 Co-mayors reacts trustee, resistance continues
21:16 Trustees appointed Dêrsim and Pulur municipalities
12:39 Families appeals to go to İmralı
12:28 Detained in Êlih subjected to racist treatment
11:32 Watch in Dersim continues
11:17 Campaign to send money to prisoners: Let's be with our children
11:09 Special war tool: Impunity policy
10:33 What is purpose of 'Personal Statute Law'?
09:53 Lawyer Kaya says Öcalan's 'right to hope' decision must be fulfilled
09:34 'Democratic mass organizations must formulate policies for refugee women'
09:07 'Women are the faces of anti-war movements in Russia'
21/11/2024
13:17 Lawyer visit ban to Abdullah Öcalan for 6 months
20/11/2024
14:00 6 years and 3 months sentence to Dersim Co-mayor
13:34 9 years sentence to Colemêrg Municipality Co-mayor
13:23 Watch in Xelfetî continues for 17th day
13:15 'A woman murdered every 10 minutes'
13:07 Resistance will continue in Êlih
12:28 Only 22 out of 5,216 violation applications examined on-site
12:19 Uğur Kaymaz murder: Policy of denial left perpetrators unpunished
11:26 Helin Ümit says nothing has come to PKK
11:12 Öcalan's 'Sociology of Freedom' published in Spanish
10:52 'Executions in Iran linked to Kurdish issue'
10:34 Prisoner's release date marked “until death”
10:14 HDK Co-Spokespersons says they aim to expand struggle