Turkey’s Court of Cassation, or the Supreme Court of Appeals, has endorsed the acquittal of police officers accused in the deaths of Enes Ata, 8, and Mahsun Mızrak, 14, killed by a tear gas canister during protests in Diyarbakır (Amed) in 2006. The court confirmed the decision from the Diyarbakır 1st High Criminal Court, which found insufficient evidence against the officers Hayrettin Akar, Nuri Özgenç and Bilal Özkara.
This ruling comes despite the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) violation finding in Mızrak’s case, highlighting a culture of impunity for state crimes against Kurds and a disregard for international judgments within Turkey’s judicial system.
Further examinations revealed a systematic obstruction in the pursuit of justice, with critical evidence being altered, destroyed or lost, including the tear gas canister linked to Ata’s death.
Lawyer Barış Yavuz, representing Mızrak’s family and a member of the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV), expressed frustration over the enduring culture of impunity and the deliberate erasure of evidence that could implicate the state’s responsibility.
The backdrop to these deaths was a series of widespread unrest across the Kurdish-majority regions of Turkey in 2006, notably after statements by then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which many interpret as having incited the violence.
The acquittals highlight a concerning trend of impunity, especially given the ECtHR’s findings of systematic obstruction in such cases. This pattern is further underscored by similar judicial decisions across Turkey, where public officials are rarely held accountable for their actions against civilians, particularly in Kurdish-majority regions.
Recent reports from human rights organisations reveal a distressing number of fatalities and injuries involving armoured vehicles, with a significant portion of the victims being minors, pointing to a deep-seated issue of state responsibility and the urgent need for judicial reform to address and prevent these violations.
