Three major JİTEM cases to cast light on dark crimes in Southeast

Beginning this September, civilian courts will take up the cases of dark crimes committed in the 1990s in southeastern Anatolia, a breakthrough after a long era of cover-ups by military courts.

An amendment passed last month cleared the path for putting members of the military in civilian courts during peacetime and barring military tribunals from prosecuting civilians. The move allows for acceleration of judicial cases involving gendarmerie officers charged with acting illegally and committing atrocities under the guise of fighting separatist terrorism. In incidents related to the charges, hundreds have gone missing, never to be found again, while many others were found dead, presumably as a result of extrajudicial executions.

The public -- especially Kurds and relatives of people who were killed or disappeared in shady incidents -- is expected to follow three JİTEM court cases very closely. The military has so far vehemently denied the unit's existence, despite the many statements from various officers and compelling pieces of evidence that stand testimony to the existence of this organization -- the same evidence that has been sufficient as a legal basis to launch court cases regarding the crimes.

Military courts have long issued rulings that covered up JİTEM crimes by saying that JİTEM simply did not exist, while the military has also refused permission for the trial of military personnel implicated in JİTEM activities.

JİTEM, analysts believe, was initially intended to facilitate the military's fight against ethnic-based terrorism in the Southeast. They say JİTEM was given special powers, a high degree of immunity from accountability and a secret budget. However, unlimited power and little or no supervision eventually turned JİTEM into an instrument to terrorize locals in the predominantly Kurdish region. Many witness accounts following disappearances and murders in the area point to JİTEM involvement, and human rights groups say about 1,800 people disappeared during the 1990s in Turkey's Southeast. Analysts, locals and researchers also agree that JİTEM appears to be a major player in illegal area trade -- drugs and arms trafficking in particular.

The alleged founders of JİTEM, including retired Gen. Veli Küçük and retired Col. Arif Doğan, are currently suspects in the ongoing trial of suspected members of Ergenekon, an illegal deep-state criminal gang charged with plotting to overthrow the government by fomenting chaos. JİTEM is thought to be the strongest military instrument in the expansive Ergenekon structure.

Three JİTEM trials

Despite a vast body of compelling evidence, including confessions from former JİTEM members and well-documented information on some of its crimes, proving the existence of JİTEM in the face of official denial has not been an easy task. Nevertheless, there are currently three ongoing trials in which the judiciary has effectively recognized JİTEM as a real -- and murderous -- organization.

Fragments of a human skull, bones and burned pieces of clothing were found during excavations in mid-March at wells in Silopi and Cizre. The excavations were part of the investigation into alleged extra-judicial executions perpetrated by JİTEM that purportedly explain the fate of hundreds of missing persons.

The first case is slated to begin Sept. 11 and involves seven suspected JİTEM members, including Kayseri Provincial Gendarmerie Battalion Commander Col. Cemal Temizöz and former Cizre Mayor Kamil Atak.

Temizöz was arrested in March in connection with an investigation into human remains found in wells in Şırnak's Silopi and Cizre districts. He was accused of "inciting murder" and “membership in an armed organization.” Atak was arrested as part of the same operation. A secret witness included in their testimony details of five murders allegedly committed by the two between 1993 and 1997, which served as the basis for the arrests.

Fragments of a human skull, bones and burned pieces of clothing were found during excavations in mid-March at wells in Silopi and Cizre. The excavations were part of the investigation into extrajudicial executions allegedly perpetrated by JİTEM that purportedly explain the fate of hundreds of missing persons.

The case indictment accuses Temizöz of having established an organization with criminal intent, an organization responsible for the deaths of 55 individuals in unsolved cases. The prosecution has requested life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for all suspects.

The indictment also contains critical allegations and explanations regarding the so-called murky period in Cizre, based on information provided by two witnesses whose identities are being withheld and are known by codenames "Ballpoint pen" and "Streetlight." The two witnesses withdrew their testimonies this week, but experts believe the prosecution's case remains strong given the physical evidence found during the March excavations.

Aygan's key confessions

In the Temizöz and Atak case, as well as the other two JİTEM trials, the confessions of Abdülkadir Aygan -- a former member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who later became an informant for the Turkish government and was recruited by JİTEM -- play a critical role. When Aygan first made his confessions in March 2005, a case was launched against eight suspects, including Abdülkerim Kırca, a retired colonel who committed suicide when his name became public after some interviews with Aygan were published at the beginning of this year.

The other suspects included Mahmut Yıldırım -- better known to the public by codename Yeşil -- Muhsin Gül, Fethi Çetin, Kemal Emlük, Saniye Emlük and Yüksel Uğur. The victims of the murders the suspects were allegedly involved in, as noted in Aygan's testimony, were Havli Arman, Lokman Zungurlu, Zana Zungurlu, Servet Aslan, Şahadettin Latfeci, Ahmet Ceylan, Mehmet Sıdık Etyemez and Abdülkadır Çelikbilek.

As Kırca was a member of the military, the file was referred to the 7th Army Corps Prosecutor's Office. The military court first decided to separate the files of civilians and military personnel, sending the files on the civilian suspects to a Diyarbakır high criminal court. Until the beginning of this year, the files were being sent back and forth between the military and civilian court systems due to jurisdictional issues. Finally, the Military Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that the military suspects would be tried at the 7th Army Corps Military Court in Diyarbakır and that the trial of the civilian suspects would be handled at the Diyarbakır 6th High Criminal Court. But with the amendments to allow the trial of military personnel in civilian courts, it is now expected that the cases will be merged. Intriguingly, as the court files were sent back and forth the file on Emlük's was reportedly lost.

The third court case against JİTEM was also opened based on Aygan's confessions and involves suspects who are all former PKK members allegedly later recruited by JİTEM. They are charged with responsibility for the deaths of Hasan Caner, Hasan Utanç and Tahsin Sevim, killed in 1989 after being kidnapped along a highway between Şırnak and İdil. A Diyarbakır court ruled the case out of its jurisdiction initially, but this was later overruled by the Court of Jurisdictional Disputes. This case is currently being handled by the Diyarbakır 3rd High Criminal Court.