DİYARBAKIR - İHD Amed Branch announced that a total of 44 people, 21 of them children, lost their lives in the last 15 years as a result of the collisions of armored vehicles and vehicles used by soldiers and police officers.

 

The Human Rights Association (İHD) Amed Branch has released its report on deaths in Kurdistan as a result of collisions with vehicles used by soldiers and police and armored vehicles. In the report, it was pointed out that 5-year-old Erdem Aşkan lost his life when the vehicle of the sergeant was hit by a vehicle in the Gever ( Yüksekova) district of Colemêrg on June 7.

 

44 PEOPLE LOSE LIVES

 

In the statement that referred to the "Investigation Report on Violations of the Right to Life Due to Armored Vehicle Collision" published by the İHD in July 2019, it was stated that the said report was updated with new deaths and injuries.

In the statement, "Finally, with the death of Erdem; As of June 7, 2023, in the 82 crashes involving armored vehicles and vehicles under the control of law enforcement, which took place in the last 15 years of Kurdish cities, 44 citizens, including 21 children, lost their lives, while 94 citizens, 23 of them children, were injured.

 

'CONNECTED WITH THE KURDISH QUESTION'

 

Pointing out that the deaths were not independent of the Kurdish Question the report said: “Due to the unregulated use of armored military vehicles, which are kept in unlimited numbers in Kurdish cities, where violence and conflicts related to the Kurdish Question take place, and which are constantly on patrol, crashes have become common and continue to cause violations of the right to life”.

 

The following demands were listed in the report:

 

"* Removal of armored vehicles, which have been determined to be unsuitable for use in social living areas by scientific reports, from their living spaces,

 

* Taking deterrent measures against violations by law enforcement officers working in the region, as a result of careless driving that endanger citizens' right to life,

 

* Due to the policy of impunity, we demand effective judicial and administrative investigations against law enforcement officers who are perpetrators of acts that cause death and injury.”