calls for assistance for an independent committee of inquiry

COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY ANDREA WOLF

International independent committee of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Andrea Wolf and other combatants in Kurdistan, and clarification of the treatment of prisoners of war by the Turkish military and of war crimes.

Coordination-bureau Munich c/o Angelika Lex, lawyer, Landwehrstrasse 55, 80336 Munich.

Tel.: 089/5139-9300. Fax:: 089/5139-9399, E-Mail: iuk-andrea.wolf@brd.de

Munich Appeal

The initiative-group of the friends and comrades of Andrea Wolf calls for assistance

for an independent committee of inquiry

Eye witnesses report that at Keles, Kurdistan, on 22.10.1998, Andrea Wolf, a German internationalist in the YAJK, the women's army of the free women's association within the Kurdish Workers Party PKK, was taken prisoner during an attack by the Turkish army. After an interrogation and as an unarmed prisoner she was shot, because she refused to co-operate with the Turkish military. Apart from Andrea Wolf, according to eye witness reports, at least eight other Kurdish guerrillas, whose names are still unknown to us, were executed in cold blood.

The shooting of defenceless prisoners constitutes murder according to prevailing international rights. The killing of disarmed prisoners and those no longer able to fight is a flagrant breach of all principles of international law. The mistreatment and killing of captive combatants is explicitly forbidden by international law valid for all countries. This is laid down by the Hague Land Warfare Convention and, in the same way, by the supplementary protocols of the Geneva Convention of 1977. These are valid for conflicts between states as well as internal conflicts.

The murder of Andrea Wolf and the other still unidentified prisoners of war is obviously no isolated case. There are many indications and reports of systematic breaches of international law by the Turkish army in the war against Kurdistan. Whereas on the Kurdish part, the Geneva Convention was signed in 1995 and complied with, Turkey has refused to sign, up to the present day.

The consequence is a dirty war in Kurdistan that the Turkish military conducts against the civil population, and in violation of war conventions and international law, and conducted also against the guerrilla. A mass expulsion of the Kurdish population has been taking place since 1984 and over 3000 villages have been destroyed. Human rights activists 'disappear', and under instructions from the state journalists are shot at. Writers are placed in detention, tortured and murdered because they speak of the existence of Kurdistan and report on the bloody reality of the Turkish war against the Kurdish people.

The Turkish state pursues this war and the Federal Republic of Germany supports it: With military assistance, training of special units, and close diplomatic and secret-service co-operation. Within the Federal Republic of Germany free political activity of Kurdish people has been banned (known as the„PKK-Verbot"...the closing of Kurdish organisations and clubs), and Turkish and Kurdish opponents of their government are deported to Turkey.

Once the death of Andrea Wolf and the circumstances became known, the Turkish government reaction to the official federal German enquiry was to deny the incident. These prevailing reactions make quite clear: As countless other times previously, a clarification of the case and conviction of the perpetrators will not be carried out

Therefore we support the international independent committee of inquiry

Together with Lilo Wolf, the Mother of Andrea, we want an independent inquiry:

It should clarify exactly what occurred on 22.10.1998 in Keles, Kurdistan, and investigate the circumstances of the death of Andrea Wolf and at least eight other combatants. It should inform the general public about which political and criminal consequences concerning international law are to be drawn from the results of the inquiry.

Of central significance for this inquiry, is that the murder of Andrea Wolf is no isolated case. The massacre of 22.10.1998 is but one in a long list of war crimes. The statistics of the internationally renowned IHD human rights association do not bear false witness. Time and again Turkish military units commit atrocities: Prisoners are mistreated in the most appalling ways, tortured, women are raped. The work of the commission is of fundamental importance. Its central task will be to clarify the system of mistreatment and execution of prisoners of war.

The informational work of the commission of inquiry should endorse a public denunciation of the Turkish state. The Turkish state must be compelled to sign the Geneva Convention, to recognise it and respect it. Those responsible for mistreatment, torture and murder must be brought to account, the Turkish state for its continual breaches of international law, and its war crimes to be internationally proscribed.

In addition we demand the immediate cessation of German military assistance to the Turkish state, the suspension of training of Turkish special forces, and the investigation, condemnation and cessation of the co-operation between German and Turkish secret services.

With its work and initiatives the commission should assist in enforcing adherence to the Geneva Convention and of international law, and in solving and prosecuting for war crimes without exception. Human rights are not a privilege of the powerful. Human rights are indivisible: Whether for civilians, journalists, trade-unionists, politicians, soldiers or guerrilla fighters.

Therefore we are also convinced that the bringing to light of war crimes in Kurdistan, and their international condemnation and cessation will contribute to a political solution to the war in Kurdistan. A political solution that will safeguard the rights and interests of the Kurdish people.

Munich, Marburg and Frankfurt, 22. November 1998

The appeal with the initial signatories will be made public at the beginning of December and thereafter continually updated.

I/We (individuals, initiatives, organisations, parties, etc.), support this appeal and the work of the International Independent Committee of Inquiry Andrea Wolf:

Date Name (in block letters) signature

I would like to be continually informed of the developments and I subscribe to the newsletter of the Munich co-ordination bureau (four to six-weekly) with a monthly standing order of at least 5 German Marks:

___________________________________________________________________________________________Address

The International Independent Committee of Inquiry asks for donations:

I/we donate_______German Marks to the account of: Angelika Lex, Rechtsanwalts-Ander-Konto, Genossen-schaftsbank, sorting code: 701 694 64, account number: 32 72 71

The application of the donations will be publicised regularly in the newsletter and accounted for.

Information and newsletter available in the Internet: www. libertad.de\archiv\andrea

as well as this text in german, french, italien, spanish, turkish

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