AMED - In its report on 9 municipalities where trustees were appointed, ÖHD emphasised that the trustees violated the right to vote of 1 million 777 thousand 120 people.
Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) shared its report on 9 municipalities where trustees were appointed on its virtual media account. The statement reads, "We have prepared our report on the appointment of trustees to 9 municipalities and the rights violations that occurred afterwards. Truste system is a violation of human rights! Unlawful, unjust and usurping practices aimed at usurping the will of the people must be stopped immediately."
The 168-page report consists of 4 sections, the first section of which includes the process followed for the report, the second section includes "Overview of the truste system", the third section includes "The process after the appointment of the trustee" and the last section includes "Conclusion and recommendations".
The report draws attention to the fact that the process that started with the trustee appointed by the Ministry of Interior to Colemêrg (Hakkari) on 3 June 2024 continued with the municipalities of Esenyurt, Mêrdîn (Mardin), Êlih (Batman), Xalfetî (Halfeti), Dêrsim (Tunceli), Pulur (Ovacık), Miks (Bahçesaray) and Akdeniz, and that the ministry emphasised in the statements of each of the 9 municipalities that they were suspended "as a temporary measure".
In the report, it is pointed out that during the State of Emergency (SoE) declared after the coup attempt on 15 July 2016, the practice of appointing "trustees" was introduces with the amendment made in local governments with the Decree Law No. 674. The report reminded that in the 2014 local elections, 95 co-mayors of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) were suspended from office, in 2019, trustees were appointed to 48 of the 65 municipalities won by the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)
VIOLATING OF THE RIGHTS OF ONE MILLION 777 THOUSAND PEOPLE
The report noted that the Ministry of Interiro appointed trustees for the third time to Êlih, Colemêrg and Mêrdîn, for the second time to Dêrsim, Miks, Xelfetî, Pulur and Akdeniz municipalities and for the first time to Esenyurt Municipality, and that CHP and DEM Party Legal Commissions filed a lawsuit for "stay of execution" in 9 municipalities where trustees were appointed.
It is noted in the report that the "right to vote" of one million 777 thousand 120 voters in the 9 municipalities where trustees were appointed was violated, "The duties of a total of 244 councillort were terminated with the trustees. The total debt of Xalfetî, Êlih, Mêrdîn, Colemêrg and Miks municipalities from the previous period is around 8 billion 700 million TL. It was stated that the total debt left to the DEM Party by the trustee administrations in six provincial and fifteen district municipalities of the DEM Party is 24 billion 727 million 168 thousand 932 TL."
The report also noted that the governors of the cities where trustees were appointed declared a ban on "demonstrations and events" and emphasised that in many places democstrations and marches were intervened and pepper gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and reverse handcuffs were used by the police during the interventions.
DETENTIONS AND ARRESTS
The report reads, "According to our data, 219 people were detained in Êlih, 37 of them were arrested, while 115 people were given judicial control (5 people were given house arrest). In Xelfetî, 27 people were detained while participating in a meeting and demonstration. 12 people including 1 child were arrested. 15 people were released with judicial control. In Mêrdîn, 41 people were detained. 9 people were arrested, 20 people were released with judicial control. 29 people were detained in Dêrsim. 11 people were arrested, 15 people were released with judicial control. In Colemêrg, 26 people were detained due to trusteeship and protests. In Akdeniz, 5 people, including the co-mayors of the municipality, were arrested in the operation carried out due to trusteeship. In the protests, 40 people were detained, 16 were arrested and 17 were released with judicial control. In Istanbul, 25 people were detained and 17 people were arrested due to the investigation against the trustee, social media posts and demonstrations."