A report on a recent incident in which troops terrorised villagers by firing live rounds was read out in a press conference in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority city of Van (Wan) on Monday.
The small hamlet of Sersul near Xaşkan village in the district of Başkale (Elbak) was raided by a large number of special operations troops, who were recorded on video firing hundreds of live rounds into the air while women were heard wailing amid bursts of automatic rifle fire, during the arrest of a suspect from his family home.
The report, prepared by Van Bar Association, the Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), observes:
Required security measures were not taken by troops although the operation was planned in advance.
The suspect, his wife and children were subjected to physical violence and ill-treatment.
When villagers, who consisted mainly of women and children, protested at the behaviour of the troops, the troops began firing live rounds from rifles into the air over their heads.
More than 400 shells were recovered at the scene of incident.
There is no evidence that villagers threw stones at the troops as claimed by authorities after the incident.
In addition to actions by troops amounting to torture and ill-treatment, the incident involves the unnecessary and excessive use of firearms, endangering life.
The team of lawyers and human rights defenders then called on the Turkish authorities to conduct a fair and effective investigation, and to bring to justice those responsible for the offences of torture, ill-treatment and terrorising villagers with the use of firearms.
The team also called for allegations of infringements of the Inviolability of Dwelling and violations of private life to be investigated.
