A total of 3369 people have been arrested on 16-24 February 1999, after Abdullah Ocalan was brought to Turkey.
Diyarbakir 1196 Van 101 Malatya 4 Urfa 188 Mardin 36 Elazig 18 Batman 313 Kayseri 6 izmir 138 Adana 190 Mersin 62 iskenderun 10 Gaziantep 80 istanbul 959 Aydin 68
During demonstrations held on 16-24 February 1999, 49 civilians, 11 policemen, and 1 village guard were wounded, 2 civilians and 1 village guard lost their lives.
A total of 12 prisoners set themselves on fire in different prisons. One of the prisoners lost his life.
Arrest operations in Diyarbakir are directed to Trade Union of Public Employees in Health and Social Services (SES), Trade Union of Public Employees in Educational Services (Egitim-Sen), Trade Union of Employees in United Transportation Services (Birlesik Tasimaclllk Sendikasl), Chambers of Civil Engineers (insaat Mühendisleri Odasl), Trade Union of Public Employees in Municipality Services, (Belediye iş), Trade Union of Employees in Judiciary Services (Tüm Yargı Sen), Trade Union of Employees in Energy, Construction and Highways Services (Enerji Yapı Yol Sen), Trade Union of Public Employees in Water, Gas and Electricity Supply Services, Branch No: I (Tes-iş 1 Nolu Şube), Chambers of Mechanical Engineers (Makine Mühendisleri Odasl), Trade Union of Employees in Defence Industry Services (Harb-iş) and to People’s Democracy Party (HADEP) members and executives.
The Human Rights Association regards these operations as arbitrary practices. We regard the detentions of executives and members of a certain party as arbitrary, because, these practices are violates the right to individual freedom and safety, although there is no any concrete evidence for being deprived of their right to freedom.
We claim for those thousands of people to be released immediately or to be brought promptly before a judge in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 5/3.
Hüsnü Öndül
Secretary General