21.11.2016
Work Accidents Are Not Fate!
Reaching 6 dead bodies out of 16 workers and giving up hopes for remaining 10 people trapped in the wrekcage occurred in the copper mine operated in Madenköy village of Şirvan district of Siirt province by a private company called “Ciner Group” are not fate, but murder.
These work accidents could have been prevented if the 12.10.2010 dated investigation and observation report (in Turkish) prepared by Siirt Branch of IHD regarding this mine and necessary operations and measures had been taken seriously by the Ministry of Energy and Public Prosecution Offices. It is explicitly indicated in this report that the Ministry of Energy and relevant bodies did not carry out audits in the mine site and legal regulations were ignored with the ambition to make profit.
As happened in Zonguldak, Kozlu, Armutçu, Yeni Çeltik, Sorgun, Ermenek, Soma, Şırnak and now in Şirvan due to work safety measures which are not taken because of insufficient audits and additional costs, thousands of people fall victim to work murders under the name of work accidents in our country.
Neither this disaster is the first one nor will be the last one because of the measures not taken, audits not performed and laws not enacted. It is understood from the ongoing work murders that necessary conscientious and ethical lessons have not been taken from the disastrous results of previously occurred big work accidents, the necessary measures and investments have not been performed and the necessary respect for the right to live has not been shown.
In order to pass off the ongoing work accidents as fate, the same work accident rate must be experienced across the world. In fact, deadly work accidents slightly occur in the countries taking the necessary measures in this field. For example in 200-million-ton coal production, while the fatality is 1 to 4 persons in USA, 110 persons in China being the biggest miner of the world and very few in the EU member states, approximately 600 people lose their lives due to work murders in Turkey.
All these murders occur as a result of public enterprises assigned to private capital, subcontractors, audits carried out in favor of subcontractors and private companies, necessary measures not taken in mines due to additional costs, protected private companies performing undue and uncontrolled production based on high profit margin, instead of human life.
We demand the necessary measures to be taken and responsibilities to be performed immediately in order to prevent work murders leading to eliminate thousands of people’s right to live, which is a fundamental human right, due to the roughness and lack of inspection exceeding the limits of public conscience.
We express our condolences for our citizens who lost their lives in these murders.
HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION