BDP presses ICC on action for Uludere

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Hürriyet photo

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) has launched an unlikely move to press the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the killing of 34 civilians last month in the botched Turkish air raid near Uludere at the Iraqi border.

But since neither Turkey nor Iraq accept the jurisdiction of the ICC, the BDP said in its “notification” to The Hague-based court that it should first press the two governments to agree to an investigation. 
The BDP charged the Turkish government with intending to cover up the incident and said “the relatives of the victims also have growing suspicions that no efficient investigation will be conducted,” according to the text, which the party released to the press.

The BDP argue the Dec. 28, 2011, raid, which had been intended for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), fell under the scope of “war crimes” as part of “an internal armed conflict” in Turkey’s southeast. 

ICC rules 

Under ICC rules, prosecutors can be asked to conduct an investigation by states which are party to the Court Statute. However, a state not party to the statute can also accept the jurisdiction of the ICC and request an investigation with respect to crimes committed in its territory or by its nationals. The U.N. Security Council may also refer cases to the court, whose mandate is to try individuals rather than states. 

An ICC prosecutor can decide to open a probe on his own initiative, but again only about crimes involving nationals of a state party or of a state which has accepted ICC jurisdiction. k HDN