COLEMÊRG – Eren Baskın, who has spent 34 years seeking justice for his father, who was killed after being taken into custody, said a commission announced by the Justice Ministry must investigate all unresolved murders.

 

The Human Rights Association (İHD) has marked 17–31 May each year since 1995 as the “International Week of Struggle Against Enforced Disappearances in Custody”. Events held during the period call for clarification over the fate of those forcibly disappeared in custody and for those responsible to be identified.

 

Eren Baskın is among those continuing that campaign. He has spent more than three decades seeking justice for his father, Abdülmecit Baskın, who was killed after being taken into custody on 30 September 1993.

 

Baskın, who is part of the İHD Colemêrg (Hakkari, Turkey) Missings Commission, said meaningful social peace would not be possible unless the policy of impunity came to an end.

 

HE RECALLS PAST PROMISES

 

Referring to the “Department for the Investigation of Unsolved Murders” that the Justice Ministry has said will be established, Baskın said no details had been shared about which cases would be examined or how any process of reckoning would be carried out.

 

He said similar promises had been made in the past: “For years, there has been talk of truth and reconciliation processes, but most of these promises were never fulfilled.”

 

Baskın stressed that genuine peace could only be achieved through confronting past. “If the peace being discussed today is to have real meaning, there must be a genuine reckoning with organised suffering,” he said.

 

Recalling that his father was killed and that the case remained unresolved for years, Baskın said even former police officers who had allegedly admitted involvement were acquitted. “We believe that even the cases which reached court were not properly handled,” he said.

 

Baskın also stressed that unresolved killings could not be limited to official figures alone. While there are hundreds of cases in official records, he said the real number was far higher and that all unsolved attacks should be investigated.

 

“Our father was killed and the files were left unresolved. Wanting this to be investigated is not a crime, it is our right,” he said and added: “Without real justice, social peace will not be possible.”

 

‘IMPUNITY MUST END’

 

Drawing attention to restrictions imposed on the Saturday Mothers, Baskın said: “There is no such thing as half justice anywhere in the world. Obstacles preventing mothers from searching for their children must be removed.”

 

He called for the effective implementation of United Nations conventions on enforced disappearances and for reservations in domestic law to be lifted. “Necessary steps must be taken for a country where people do not fear being disappeared in custody,” he said.

 

Marking the Week of the Disappeared, Baskın said all political killings, from writer Sabahattin Ali to Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz, should be fully investigated and concluded: “The mentality responsible must be tried in independent courts. Without ending the policy of impunity, there can be no genuine reckoning.”