The perpetrators of harassment, sexual assault and rape against women and children are protected under the arbitary rule of impunity as an exceptional war policy, according to Mesopotamia Agency.
300 women were murdered, 94 women were subjected to harassment and rape, 49 children were subjected to sexual abuse according to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform (KCDP). It has been observed that the perpetrators of state-based sexual assaults are protected with the law of impunity. Sexual assaults in the region in recent months, have been perpetrated mainly by soldiers, police officers and village guards.
Police officer
Traffic police officer Y.Y was accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old child in Derik district in Mardin (Merdin) on February 25, 2021. The police officer Y. was staying at the state-facility-hotel. When a 12-year-old boy was taking food to the room of the policeman, a little while later the boy was seen trying to escape from the room naked. The employees in the facility took the child into their protection. After the boy described his experience to the police, the police officer Y.Y. were arrested.
Village guard
Village guard H.B. and R.Ç. were taken into custody on allegations of sexual harassment on February 18, 2021 in Savur district in Mardin. The weapons of the village guards were confiscated. The village guards, were released by the court pending a trial.
A police officer named as ‘Enes T’. was accused of sexual assult and rape of the civil officer G.A.Ü. in Hakkari Provincial Police Department on January 26, 2021. She made the criminal complaint and told the manager of the unit one day later. After that, she was taken to hospital and testified at the Provincial Security Directorate on January 28 and made allegations against the police officer. After the incident recieved media coverage, he was dismissed.
Specialised sergeant
İpek Er (18) was driven to suicide after being raped by specialised sergeant Musa Orhan on July 7, 2020 in Batman. Upon the public reactions, Orhan was sued for “sexual assault” and detained. He was released shortly after his arrest. However, despite all the objections, Orhan is being tried while not being under arrest or in custody.
Specialized sergeant Aslan A., was accused of sexual assault of a 13-year-old child in Şırnak on July 15, 2020. He was released at the second hearing of the trial. The case opened with charges of “sexual abuse” and “threats with guns”. The sentencing of two and a half years prison sentence given for “sexual abuse” at the hearing held at the Şırnak Criminal Court was postponed.
Specialized sergeant, police officer and village guard
It was revealed that a 15-year-old boy in the Gercüş district of Batman was subjected to sexual assault and raped by 27 people allegedly including soldiers, police and village guards.
The incident was learned about with the complaint filed by the child to the Gercüş Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on December 12, 2020. Making a statement about the incident, the police, governorship and republic prosecutor’s office complain about the media by saying they were “creating the wrong perception”.
A child under state protection in a dormitory bore testimony to the Child Monitoring Center (ÇİM) and accused a specialized sergeant Tufan A. regarding sexual assault against him on July 31, 2020, in Van (Wan).
In the indictment prepared by the prosecutor’s office, the specialized sergeant asked to be tried for “sexual abuse of the child”. It was decided that Tufan A, was to be released by the court pending a trial. The hearing will be held in the coming months.The case will be heard at the Van 7th Agri Criminal Court.
In the village of Hanlar (Xanika) in Mardin’s Midyat district, Nurcan Fidan (20) accused the village guard Abdulkerim İ. with the charge of sexual assault on July 2, 2013. After the incident Nurcan Fidan committed suicide in her home. Nurcan Fidan’s family has been seeking justice for seven years. Although the family filed a criminal complaint, the village guard was not detained and the incident has been subjected to an attempted cover up.
Ayşe Çeçen (17), who was placed in a shelter after being raped by specialist sergeant E.T. in the Kızıltepe district of Mardin in 2013, after a while she killed by her family.
Neither the family members who killed Ayşe Çeçen nor the perpetrator of rape, specialized sergeant E.T. were detained or given any punishment. At the verdict hearing held recently, the defendants were acquitted and the file was closed.
The verdict hearing of the case against the village guard Mehmet Ali K., who sexually abused a 7-year-old child in the Gercüş district of Batman, was also held recently. At the hearing in Midyat High Criminal Court, Mehmet Ali K. was sentenced to 23 years imprisonment. It was 14 years for “sexual abuse of children” and nine years for “deprivation of liberty”.
