A Turkish court in Urfa has sentenced fourteen Kurdish civilians to a total of fifty years in prison. These are people who were arrested and tortured by security forces more than two years ago during an operation in response to a clash between guerrilla fighters and the police. Photos that became public at the time left people speechless with horror and anger. They showed some of those affected lying on the floor in the gendarmerie (military police) command post with their hands tied behind their backs.

Children also affected by mass arrests

On May 18, 2019, clashes broke out between two HPG members and a special police unit at a house in the Dergili neighborhood of Halfeti. Two police officers were injured, and the unit's deputy commissioner was killed, while the two guerrillas died as a result of the explosions. That same day, mass arrests began in Halfeti and the district of Bozova further to the northeast; 51 people between the ages of 13 and 70 were detained. By May 24, 22 of those affected, including three minors, had been released.

Collective punishment against Kurdish population

During interrogations in the gendarmerie post and the anti-terror police, the detainees were tortured with electric shocks and severely abused, among other things. According to information provided by lawyers, many of them suffered head injuries, cuts and bruises on their faces, legs and other parts of their bodies. Nearly all of them suffered broken bones as a result of being punched and kicked, and some even had skull fractures. Several victims also reported electric shocks to their genitals. The lawyers complained that their clients were unrecognizable because of the violence they had suffered, yet they were denied medical treatment. The Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) spoke of a "collective punishment against the Kurdish people.

Statements made under torture retracted

Thirteen of the civilians were arrested in May 2019 on suspicion of PKK membership. The trial did not begin until over a year later, in June 2020. In the meantime, the Urfa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had expanded the charges and accused them of murder, grievous bodily harm, directing a terrorist organization, and undermining the unity and integrity of the state, in addition to membership in an alleged terrorist organization. All the defendants made it clear in court that they were tortured by police and security forces after their arrest and signed prefabricated statements. "They knocked out my teeth and broke my ribs," one of them reported. "They tortured me with electric shocks to my genital area and hung me upside down by my feet," another stated. "I signed it, but none of what it says is true," the defendants said.

50 years and 6 months imprisonment for 14 people

Since the start of the trial, five of those affected have been set free on conditional release. The trial ended yesterday with guilty verdicts, but there were protests and riots beforehand. The torture case against several police officers and gendarmes is still pending. Nevertheless, the court considered the "confessions" extracted under torture as evidence and sentenced Celal Ercan and Zeki Alakuş to seven and a half years in prison and Mehmet Alakuş to five years for membership in a terrorist organization. The three remain in prison. Celal Yıldırım, Fahrettin Alakuş, Cindi Zencirkıran, Ömer Gül and Vakkas Kılıç received prison sentences of three and a half years each for "willingly and knowingly supporting the PKK." Their release from prison was ordered at the same time. Gazeley Alakuş, Fatma Alakuş, Mehmet Hayri Çiftçi, Sariye Gümüş, Niyazi Gümüş and Ruken Deniz were also sentenced to two years and one month in prison each for allegedly aiding the PKK. The remaining defendants were acquitted.