The event is the murdering of Murat Tekdal -who residented in the village Ecemiş (the house of Miho Brother) belonging to Lice administrative district within the province of Diyarbakır- by the security forces on the rural area of village Şenlik due to he was a militant, on 12 September 2008, Friday around 20.00 p.m.
The ones who take place in the human rights committee, that have been formed to investigate the suspicious death of slain Murat TEKDAL upon his family’s application to Human Rights Association, are:
1. Gülten KIŞANAK – DTP MP
2. Şeyhmus BAYHAN- Lice Mayor
3. Muharrem ERBEY, Lawyer- Chairman of Diyarbakır Branch of HRA
4. Nejdet ATALAY- DTP Provincial Chairman
5. Serhat EREN, Lawyer- General Secretary of Bar
6. Dr. Kemal KARADAŞ- Member of Board of the Chamber of Doctors
7. Menaf KAPLAN- Member of Board of Göç-Der (The Association for Immigrants)
8. Emin TEKDAL- The Uncle of the Slain
3- NEGOTIATIONS MADE:
1- Emin TEKDAL (The slain’s uncle)
My nephew Murat Tekdal who residented in village Ecemiş came our home from the village to stay for two days on Wednesday, 10 September 2008. He returned to the village on 12 September 2008, Friday by the village minibus. The driver of the minibus witnessed that event. After my nephew had returned to his village, he had been murdered on the military operation area when he wanted to go to Şenlik village from his home on 12 September 2008. Villagers had heard several shots in the evening between 5-7 pm. All the villagers had seen my nephew in the village that day. My nephew had told the villagers “I will go to the other village and return. Tomorrow I will work”. Then we took the news of my nephew’s death. General Staff declared that they got a dead body of a militant in Lice. But my nephew wasn’t a militant, he was a civil citizen.
It was declared that one citizen was found dead by calling the village headman on Saturday afternoon, around 13.00- 14.00.After the village headman apprised us, we went to Lice from Diyarbakır together with 20-30 people. The body was given to the village headman. I saw my nephew’s body. He had dressed black trousers. And there were a black shirt, a black beret and a black jacket on him. There was a shotgun on his hand. There was an unexploded bullet in the shotgun. The bullet had entered under his left arm pit and drop out from the right side. All his entrails were out. Both hand's fingers got black.
Now, the area which the event happened is being burned by the soldiers. We think that that they do it to abolish the evidences. My nephew was 30 years old. He was living in the village. Occasionally, he was coming here to work. But, we have a lot of witnesses that know he returned to village and he was in the village that day. I’m ready for doing everything for the juridical struggle and I’m waiting the juridical help of HRA for that.
2- Eşref ANDAN, the Village Headman (The Headman of the Village Ecemiş):
On 13 September, around 13.00 the soldiers phoned me and asked “Do you know Murat TEKDAL, where is he?”. I said he was in the village. He said me “Allright” and rung off. Then the Prosecution called me. I went. They gave me the body of Murat TEKDAL. There were black trousers and black shirt on him. He had dressed black beret and jacket. There was a shotgun on his hand. Murat was an innocuous person. He was innocent. He was living alone. I don’t think he had any relations with any organization. The Prosecutor told me that he had died at Friday night, 23.30 p.m. They found the body around the village Şenlik. But, the villagers of Ecemiş said that they had heard several shots around 16.00-17.00 p.m. There is something wrong. Murat was a bit far away of the village. Previously the soldiers had warned us about not going to rural areas.
3- Mehmet DOĞAN (The Slain’s Relative)
Last, I saw Murat TEKDAL, my brother’s son, on the day of his murdering. He was living alone. He was never taken into custody up to now. He had a garden. He was always going to cultivate and irrigate it. He had a shotgun and whenever he went far away, he brought it together. I saw him on 12 September 2008, around 16.00. I called him. He said that he would go to his garden and irrigate it. There were a hawk and a plastic can on his hands and his shotgun and a small bag on his back. He was dressed black trousers, black jacket and green shirt inside. There were rubber shoes on his foot (he wore them when he went to the garden). Around 19.00- 20.00 p.m. I heard 4 shots. They were far away and on the way of the Murat had gone to. He was found dead near the Şenlik village. He had friends in there. He always went to see them. The way that he went was path. All we use that way. Sometimes we were going from the hills for shortcut. But, one can easily be seen due to the trees aren’t frequent. Murat was an innocuous person and he was innocent. He never offended anyone. He was making the walls of his house. He was cutting wood and selling them. There are military operations in our district since 7 September. Always being heard gun report and shots
4- Fahrettin AKKUŞ (The Slain’s neighbour from the same village):
He was our neighbour. He was single, ingenuous and alone. He had a garden. Sometimes he was cutting wood and selling them. He was always working on his garden. He was never taken into custody up to now. He had no relations with the political event. I didn’t see him on Friday. There were two masters working on upstairs of his house. But they had gone. They had seen him. They had asked him where he had been going. He had said that he had been going to his garden. If he went to far away, he definitely would say it. I heard 4-5 shots around 19.00-20.00 p.m. They were single-fired and at intervals. He was very quiet. The soldiers had fired at him without warning him to stop. If they told him to stop, he would definitely stop. He was poor and adaptable. He was living in here for 7 years. He had never gone anywhere. He was always in here. As we heard, the Commander called the village headman and asked if he knew Murat TEKDAL and where he was. And the headman had said that he had known him, he had been a villager and he had been on the village. Then they had called him and showed the body at the mortuary of Lice Hospital. The headmen had recognised him. He had taken the body and given his family, and then his family had buried him in Diyarbakır.
5- Meryem TAŞ(The Slain’s Neighbour):
He was our neighbour. It was about to evening. He had plastic can and hawk on his hands. His shotgun was on his back. He had dressed black trousers and black shirt. I saw him going to his garden. He went to his garden everyday.
6- Mustafa KEMAL ÇOLAK ( Public Prosecutor of Lice):
Public Prosecutor of Lice, Mustafa Kemal ÇOLAK who we interviewed with upon the murdering of Murat TEKDAL, expressed that he had launched an inquiry on that event, he had seen the body by going to scene of crime, the military authorization had said him that Murat TEKDAL had been a militant and murdered during the conflict. He wanted the copy of the file and the proxy that had been given by the relatives of the slain. Public Prosecutor Mustafa K. ÇOLAK, gave the copies of documents and showed the current photos in the file. He expressed that he will investigate the event, but the documents -that is written he had been murdered during the conflict at 11.30 of night- have been submitted to him by the military units and the file is recorded in 2008/945 preliminary number.
4-INQUIRY FILE
Public Prosecution of Lice 2008/945 Preliminary numbered file
We examined the death of slain Murat TEKDAL by looking the death autopsy record, his belongings and the photos of his dead body from the file in Public Prosecutor of Lice that is recorded on 2008/945 numbered preliminary file. In autopsy report, it was written to be decided that the bullet which was 0.7 cm getting from the slain was sent to forensic science institute for search, again, at the abdomen's left face of firearms wounds, because of hitting to dress, for confirming the shot distance determination and of the entering wounds, also for search to sending the dress to Istanbul Forensic Science Institute – physics expert department or gendarme criminal department that having hole on while being on the slain at that moment.
On the correspondences in the file, it is said that “ A body of a militant of terrorist organization had been found at the time of terrain search during the day after the conflict with Separatist Terror Organization on 13 September 2008 at 23.30 p.m.”.
We saw in the photos, which have taken on the rural area, that the slain had dressed black trousers, green shirt under the black jacket, a charm on his neck, black and thin rubber shoes on his foot and a shotgun called as collapsible shotgun under his foot.
DETERMINATIONS
1- There is no evidence that the slain Murat TEKDAL was a member of any organization when all of the words of his relatives, villagers, neighbours, the village headman and his lifestyle, dresses and the file are examined.
2- The slain had been living for 7 seven years in a ten-householded village. It is highly expected that the soldiers that always make operations around there know him.
3- The murdering of a person who always goes to his garden, makes the walls of his house, being loved by everybody has caused to anxiety and fear among the villagers and the determination of the anxiety of the soldier can kill anybody randomly had been fixed.
4- It is determined that the slain hasn’t died in the conflict, but just with a single shot.
5- It is determined that it wasn’t fired with the old collapsible shotgun, because still the shotgun was full with two bullets.
6- It was determined that the people who come back to their villages temporarily have no security of life.
7- Through these kind of events, it is determined that they want to make pressure on villagers to abandon their villages, lands and gardens.
DEMANDS
1- We want security forces make a declaration upon the claims on security forces fire at settlement areas on rural districts continually, fire the forests, bomb and kill the civil people recently.
2- Although the slain was a civil person, they defined him as a “ the murdered member of organization as a result of the conflict”. We are suspicious about their intends due to General Staff falsifies the truths about the issue of a murdering of a civil person on purpose or not.
3- We demand from the Turkish National Assembly Human Rights Commission to investigate the event as soon as it is possible.
4- We demand that the determinations of security forces must be fixed and the statements of all the security forces must be testified considering the scope of the Public Prosecution of Lice whether the operations are being done on the region or not.