Mehmet Acar
person- Image
- Sex
- Male
- Civil status
- Married
- Occupation
- Peasant
- Dependants
- 10
- Event description
Per court files on Mehmet Acar’s disappearance, he was a married man with seven children living in the Dirsekli village of Cizre, Şırnak who had served time in prison and repeatedly received threats. In February 1994, he was taken from his home by two ex-PKK members-turned JİTEM employees operating under aliases Bedran and Hakim, only to be released two days later with the intervention of the village guard at the family’s request. Upon return, Mehmet Acar told his wife that he was certain that he would be taken again and disappear. Two days later, he was taken by the same two men; this time, the District Gendarmerie Command denied having seen him after releasing him two days prior. The family searched for him to no avail. Mehmet Acar has not been heard from nor have his remains been found.
- Geolocation
Latitude: 37.332346
Longitude: 42.185474
- Geolocation
- City
- Şırnak
- District
- Cizre
- Date of disappearance
- Feb 1, 1994
- Year of disappearance
- 1994
- Age at the time of disappearance
- Yaş:29Ay:6Gün:24
- Status of the victim
- Still missing
- Type of source material
- Bill of indictment
- Decision and correspondences of prosecutor
- Interview with family member (audio and video records)
- Press release or report of human rights organisations
- Decision by the prosecution office
- Investigation continues
- Summary of the legal proceedings
Per court files on Mehmet Acar, who had disappeared in 1994 after being taken into custody by two former PKK members-turned-JİTEM employees, the legal process was initiated at the Şırnak Chief Public Prosecutors Office in late 2008 after widely mediatized allegations about JİTEM burying victims’ bodies in Şırnak and Cizre districts of Şırnak were followed by complaints from the Bar Association of Şırnak. In the meantime, Mehmet Acar’s elder and younger brothers as well as the village guard who knew the ex-PKK members gave depositions. Even though the tests done on the remains discovered at the said locations did not produce any results, one of the former PKK members involved in Mehmet Acar’s disappearance confessed to his murder. As of 2015, the investigation launched into his disappearance continues under the file number 2014/1859 at at the Cizre Public Prosecutor’s Office.