| Submitted by Tsiatsan on Saturday, October 17 2009 |
Kurdish Info 16.10.2009- The Turkish state is giving its security forces unlimited authority in dispersing demonstrations. The arsenal most known by all opponents of the state is lead by pepper spray and gas bombs. Known as instruments for dispersal, the results following the use of these has not been so innocent. In fact a report released by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) in 2001 stated pepper spray as a dangerous instrument in one of its articles. It stated that it could cause damage even when used in open-air. However the police are not hesitant in using it in Turkey, whether it is against protestors or against defenceless prisoners.Gas bombs were used in an operation against prisons on 19th December 2000. Ilker Babacan was killed in the operation at Çannakale prison after a gas bomb struck the left side of his face leading to a brain haemorrhage.
A prisoner named Nilüfer Alcan also died in the same operation after she was poisoned by the heavy use of gas bombs.
The same weapon was used on 28th March 2006 at the funeral of HPG guerrillas in Amed. A number of people were killed in the attacks by security forces. Of those who died it was established that Mahsum Mızrak and Tarık Ataya died due to gas bombs.
On 29th March 2006 a demonstration in Ümraniye, Istanbul for HPG guerrillas ended in the death of 24 year old Hüseyin Demir, who was poisoned following the use of excessive gas bombs by police.
The place of death was once again Istanbul on 1st May 2007 when police threw gas bombs into a coffeehouse, resulting in the death of 75 year old Ibrahim Sevindik.
The causes of death for the Amara martyr Mustafa Dağ and 55 year old Ishak Kalvo at the IMF protests was also the police’s use of gas bombs.
Gas bombs were last used in the events of 9th October. This time the victim was a tiny baby. A bomb that threatens the life of an 18 month old baby still feeding on its mother’s milk cannot be so innocent.
