DEMANDS OF JUSTICE AND COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST IN THE POST-CONFLICT PERIOD NOTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE Nesrin UÇARLAR English Translation: Justyna Szewczyk NOTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE DEMANDS OF JUSTICE AND COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST IN THE POST-CONFLICT PERIOD NESRİN UÇARLAR Englsh Translaton: Justyna Szewczyk DISA PUBLICATIONS DIYARBAKIR INSTITUTE FOR POLITICAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH (DISA) NOTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE DEMANDS OF JUSTICE AND COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST IN THE POST-CONFLICT PERIOD DISA PUBLICATIONS Author: Nesrin Uçarlar Project Management: Murad Akıncılar English Translation: Justyna Szewczyk Publication Identity Design: Bang Medya Visual Documentary Curator: İshak Dursun Junior field researchers: Berivan Alagöz, İshak Dursun Cover Design: Şendoğan Yazıcı Page Layout: Şendoğan Yazıcı Cover Photo: Ubeydullah Hakan Printing: MATSİS MATBAA SİSTEMLERİ - Tevfikbey Mah. Dr. Ali Demir Cad. No: 51 Sefaköy / İSTANBUL Tel: 0212 624 21 11 First Edition: Istanbul, June 2015 ISBN: 978-605-5458-25-6 Copyright © June 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the permission of Diyarbakır Institute for Political and Social Research (DISA). Mimar Sinan Cad. Aslan Apt. B Blok No: 12 21100 YENİŞEHİR/ DİYARBAKIR Tel: 0412 228 1442 Faks: 0412 224 1442 www.disa.org.tr [email protected] Nesrn Uçarlar, receved her PhD from the Department of Poltcal Scence, Lund Unversty n 2009. She works as lecturer at Department of Internatonal Relatons, İstanbul Blg Unversty. She currently conducts a research project on the communty-based restoratve justce n Turkey at Dyarbakır Socal and Poltcal Research Insttute. Her recent studes focus on the elaboraton of the Kurdsh ssue from the vewpont of contemporary poltcal phlosophy n the framework of the concepts such as power, resstance, justce and the poltcal. Besdes her ndvdual and jont publcatons, she recently contrbuted as co-e- dtor - wth Büşra Ersanlı and Günay Göksu Özdoğan - of “Türkye Syasetnde Kürtler – Drenş, Hak Arayışı, Katılım” [“Kurds n Turkey’s Poltcs – Resstance, Clamng Rghts and Partcpaton”]. She has also contrbuted to DİSA’s recent research on the “From Past to Present a Paramltary Organzaton n Turkey; The Vllage Guard System” through the chapter enttled “ Establshment, Construct- on and Preservaton of the Vllage Guard System on the Meetng Mnutes of the Natonal Assembly and the Press”. Ths report enttled “Nothng n ts Rght Place” Demands of Justice and Comng to Terms wth the Past n the Post-conflct Perod has been prepared as a part of the Restoratve Justce and Peace Buldng research program by Dyarbakır Insttute for Poltcal and Socal Research (DİSA) wth the fnancal support of the CHREST Foundaton, The Henrch Böll Stftung Assocaton n Turkey, CHARLES MOTT Foundaton as well as The SWİSS Embassy n Turkey. The vews expressed n ths report do not necessarly represent the vews of DİSA or the CHREST and MOTT Foundaton or the Henrch Böll Stftung Assocaton or the Swss Embassy. To download the report please vst: http://www.dsa.org.tr/nothinginitsrightplace. pdf or contact us from the correspondence nformaton above. wth the contrbutons of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would lke to sncerely thank İshak Dursun for hs preparatory feld work he has conducted before the famles, wthout whch the feld study would not be feasble; Bervan Alagöz for her effcent and dedcated contrbuton as junor feld researcher; Ubeydullah Hakan for hs techncal assstance durng the feld work. We would also lke to thank Nhal Ayrıbr and Aydın Bolkan n addton to Ber- van and İshak for ther nvolvement n transcrpton of the ntervews. Özgür Sevg Göral from the Justce and Memory Center; Professors Nazan Üs- tündağ, Şemsa Özar and Bülent Küçük as academcs from the Bosphorus Un- versty; Semahat Sevm from Henrch Böll Stftung Assocaton; Ayşe İclal Kü- çükkırca from Mardn Artuklu Unversty; Hüsnü Yılmaz as representatve of the European Federaton of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rghts; Chan Aydın from the Dyarbakır Barr Assocaton; Mehd Pernçek as former vce-presdent of Human Rghts Assocaton n charge of human rghts volatons n engagement area; Hulus Zeybel from Human Rghts Assocaton İstanbul Branch; Murat Aba from the Human Rghts Foundaton; Emn Aktar as former presdent of the D- yarbakır Barr Assocaton; Lezgn Yalçın from Cvl Socety Development Center; Övgü Gökçe from Dyarbakır Center of Arts; Nurcan Baysal as steerng montor of the research project; Gamze Yalçın from Dyarbakır Human Rghts Assoca- ton; famles from Mesopotaman Assocaton for the famles of dsappeared persons and famles from the Assocaton for the forced Mgraton contrbuted systematcally to the dscussons held durng the workng group meetngs n İstanbul and Dyarbakır. We are whole-heartly thankful to Elsabeth Oglesby for the nformaton and documents she shared regardng the cross-country case studes; to Lou Anne Jensen-Chrest as the Presdent of the Chrest Foundaton; to Walter Wers from C. MOTT Foundaton; to Ulrke Duffner from Henrch Böll Stftung Assocaton n Turkey and to Dder Chassot from Swss Embassy n Turkey for ther encoura- gng support for the project. The genune owners of ths research whch should be consdered as a duty of loyalty, are the famly members lost durng the drty war. We wsh they were here. Table of Contents Introduction 7 Chapter 1 Coming to terms with the Past: Quest for justice 11 Studies in post-conflict justice 12 Retributive and restorative justice 16 Victims, Witnesses and Survivors 22 Perpetrators, the Responsible Ones, Bystanders 24 Right to Truth 29 Truth Commissions 32 Unofficial Truth Efforts 35 Chapter 2 Politics of Past 41 Memory 41 Mourning 44 Forgiveness 49 Vexation and Resentment 57 Political friendship 64 Chapter 3 The 90s in Turkey and Kurdistan 69 Turkey’s State of Exception: Kurdistan and the Nineties 73 The State of Serhildan in Kurdistan: political and social struggle 83 Chapter 4 A possibility: Telling, Naming, and Giving the Meaning 94 The Route and Interviews 96 “What you’ve been through? What you’ve seen? 98 Victims, Witnesses and Survivors 100 Muş: “It can’t be as it was” 100 Bitlis: “They took him away” 104 Van: “Gone is gone, nothing matters anymore” 107 Hakkari: “Write it, write it like that” 109 Şırnak: “Will it ever leave my heart? 114 Mardin: “Neither day is a day nor night is a night for us” 118 Batman: “There was his footprint” 121 Diyarbakır: “success would mean surviving” 125 Chapter 5 Awaiting Justice: The Address is the State 134 Attempts: Quest for Justice 134 Idea of Retributive Justice: “Punishment is justice,” “If you ask who did it, the state” 135 Challenges: Impunity, Plea-Bargain, Material Reparation 160 Demand for Restorative Justice: Acknowledgment of Truths, Grave, Apology 169 Demandlessness: “Hearts of all Kurdish people are broken” 179 Chapter 6 Rethinking Justice: “Turks as Sisters/Brothers” 184 A possibility for confrontation, forgiveness, giving blessings 185 “Would you forgive if you were me?” 187 “If they say ‘… uncle we feel remorse, we take refuge in you’… ” 192 “If our President also comes to the table…” 198 “I am tongue-tied with respect to peace” 205 The contract of fraternity 210 “They too must say ‘it’s enough’” 215 “I have nothing to do with Turks” 221 Struggle for dignity 226 One more chance 232 Evaluation and Recommendations 238 Truth telling and acknowledgment 238 Prosecution of the perpetrators and the responsible ones 238 Exposure and dismissal of the responsible ones and the authorities 239 Establishment of an Official Truth Commission 239 Payment of the material reparations and provision of social services 239 Official apology statements 240 Official support for memorialisation work 240 Appendix 242 List of Truth Commissions 242 Bibliography 247 Introducton Mukaddes Hanım said that “words have already buried themselves.” She still has no knowledge of the whereabouts of her father, who was arrested twenty years ago. The “state,” which took her father away, did not return him and was not held accountable, is not the only one that caused the burial of Mukad- des Hanım’s words. Journalists, politicians, academics and other citizens who did not see their suffering, who did not hear them and who did not ask af- ter “Kurdish citizens” whose husbands, children, brothers and fathers were “wiped out,” also preferred the burial of some words. While trying anyway to keep talking or while we were both waiting in silence, some words came back. But some words lack some meanings.1 After twenty years we are trying to find buried words and bring them back and to understand what they mean. However, most of the time we feel obliged to admit that words will never be enough to describe the past. Nevertheless, we try to conduct one of the studies of “coming to terms with the past,” which tries to give ear to the feelings, thoughts, demands of the victims, who were addressed by crimes against humanity, who were exposed to the violence of states; and to convey these feelings, thoughts and demands to the states at stake and to those who remained silent when those crimes were committed. We have been trying to achieve that as an institution, name- ly, Diyarbakır Institute for Political and Social Research. What do I want to achieve personally, as a writer of this study? I can be seen as one of those who remained silent. I was “fortunate” to be a child, adolescent in the West of Turkey; studied “international relations” free of politics and it was only during my PhD studies, when I was “fortunate” to become really aware of the East of Turkey, “the Kurdish issue”. Now, I try to bear testimony to what I became aware of years ago. Mukaddes Hanım, like others whom we visited for this study, says “Welcome” and shows us courtesy of talking and listening to us.