At the weekly sit-in they named “Find the disappeared people, judge the culprits” organized by IHD (Human Rights Association) Diyarbakır branch and the relatives of the disappeared people, told the story of Hikmet Kaya.
This was week number 237 for the relatives of the disappeared people: they sat at Koşuyolu Park, in front of the Monument to Life.
Kaya was in his house when, on 2 November 1994, village guards entered the house and took him into custody. Kaya did not want to leave the house and they took him by force. The family asked for his whereabouts everywhere in the following days, which became weeks and months. Years have passed and no news of what happened to Kaya has been revealed.
People carried photographs of their loved ones and asked: “Where are these people?”
According to the Human Rights Association over 800 persons went missing under Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) custody. Linked to the disappearances for political reasons there is the issue of mass graves, which have only recently begun to be admitted by Turkish military and government and opened. There are at least 3,248 bodies buried in 253 separate mass graves, says the IHD.