The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Legal and Human Rights Commission issued the following statement regarding the 19 December prison massacres: “The operation carried out on 19 December 2000, publicly promoted as the ‘Return to Life’ operation, resulted in a grave and devastating outcome. Individuals whom the state was obligated to protect were killed and injured. Thirty-two people lost their lives, including two members of the security forces who took part in the operation, and hundreds were severely wounded.
Subsequent forensic examinations established that all deaths caused by gunshot wounds, even those of the security officers, originated from weapons used by state personnel. Reports confirmed that no shots had been fired from inside to outside. The weapons that caused the deaths were high-kinetic-energy military firearms, extremely powerful, long-barrelled weapons. The methods used in the women’s ward amounted to pure barbarity. Holes were opened through the roof, and incendiary materials were thrown into the dormitories. Chemical-based incendiary agents, prohibited for use in enclosed spaces, were released in large quantities, causing the wards to erupt in flames and making it impossible for prisoners to breathe. When the prisoners, realizing they would be killed, attempted to reach the courtyard, they were fired upon there as well. Six people were killed in this attack.
Despite the applications and complaints filed, cases were opened against the victims, while no authorization for prosecution was granted against the officers involved in the operation. The investigation was deliberately prolonged until 2010. That year, charges were finally brought against 37 conscripts, but not against any senior officers. The late initiation of proceedings against those who commanded the operation did not alter the outcome. The court rejected requests for the defendants to be heard in person and for victims and witnesses to testify face-to-face. Statements remained incomplete for years. The failure to submit documents and information requested by the court intentionally stretched the trial over many years. In the end, the case was dismissed on the grounds of the statute of limitations.
However, according to the settled case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), statute of limitations cannot be invoked when delays are caused by judicial authorities or state officials. Crimes that may amount to crimes against humanity cannot be concluded with impunity, as this violates both the law and the fundamental normative principles underpinning human rights. For these reasons, the ECtHR ruled in the case of Hamdemir and Others v. Türkiye on 15 November 2016 that the force and methods used in Bayrampaşa Prison were disproportionate and that the right to life had been violated. Furthermore, the state failed to comply with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, to which it is a party.
The loss of rights caused by the state’s prison policies, and the fact that yet another massacre has resulted in impunity, is unacceptable. We reject the closure of the final case concerning the simultaneous operations conducted in 20 prisons, the Bayrampaşa Prison Raid case, through the application of the statute of limitations and the consequent outcome of impunity.”