The Ankara 5th Heavy Penal Court announced its ruling in the 19th hearing of Kızıltepe JITEM case on Monday.

The court ruled the following on the defendants: Retired Colonel Hasan Atilla Uğur and Diyarbakır Provincial Gendarmerie Commander of the time Colonel Eşref Hatipoğlu have been acquitted of "establishing and leading an armed organization".

Other defendants Gendarmerie Company Commander Ahmet Boncuk, Sergeant Major Ünal Alkan and the then village guards Abdurrahman Kurğa, Mehmet Emin Kurğa, Ramazan Çetin, Mehmet Salih Kılınçaslan and İsmet Kandemir have been acquitted of "being members of an armed terrorist organization" as per the Article 314/2 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

The charges of enforced disappearance, murder and extrajudicial execution have been dropped as the 20-year statutory limitations have expired.

HDP Law and Human Rights Commission Spokesperson and HDP Batman MP Ayşe Acar Başaran, said: "In all the files related to the murders committed against the Kurdish people in various provinces of the country in the 90s, scandal proceedings have been made for the defendants and impunity has become the main feature."

The HDP Batman MP issued a written statement about the Kızıltepe JITEM case and said: "The impunity in the Kızıltepe JITEM case is evident. The duty and responsibility of finding and punishing the perpetrator of the killings of 22 people have not been complied with."

BACKGROUND

A lawsuit was filed against nine people in relation with the murder and enforced disappearance of 22 people in the district of Kızıltepe in Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin between the years of 1992 and 1996.