ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has described recent reports of Turkish military activity against Kurds in Turkey’s southeast as “extremely alarming”. “More and more information has been emerging from a variety of credible sources about the actions of security forces in the town of Cizre during the extended curfew there from mid-December until early March,” said Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein on Tuesday. “And the picture that is emerging, although still sketchy, is extremely alarming.” The Turkish army has declared a series of military curfews in several Kurdish cities in the southeast. The army is in the streets, engaged in clashes which have seen hundreds killed and thousands of others displaced. The Turkish government claims its offensive is against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a named terrorist organization, and its affiliates, including organized youth groups. Turkey reignited a war with the PKK in July 2015, bringing an end to a 2013 ceasefire that was meant to resolve a three-decade conflict in which some 40,000 people have been killed. Activists and Kurdish organizations claim that the Turkish army is targeting civilians and razing Kurdish homes and businesses. Zeid condemned the violence and unlawful acts carried out by non-state agents allegedly affiliated with the PKK, including the youth groups, but noted that Turkey has a duty to respect human rights at all times and must not engage in torture, extrajudicial killings, disproportionate use of force, or arbitrary detention. Zeid stated that he had received reports of unarmed civilians, including children, “being deliberately shot by snipers, or by gunfire from tanks and other military vehicles.” “There are also allegations of arbitrary arrests, and of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, as well as reports that in some situations ambulances and medical staff were prevented from reaching the wounded.” “Most disturbing of all,” the High Commissioner said, “are the reports quoting witnesses and relatives in Cizre which suggest that more than 100 people were burned to death as they sheltered in three different basements that had been surrounded by security forces.” Zeid condemned the Turkish government for not allowing his office access to the affected areas. “In 2016, to have such a lack of information about what is happening in such a large and geographically accessible area is both extraordinary and deeply worrying,” Zeid said. “This black-out simply fuels suspicions about what has been going on. I therefore renew my call for access for UN staff and other impartial observers and investigators, including civil society organizations and journalists.”
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