Biography
Sêvê Demir was born in 1974 in the village called Sute from the district of Savur in Mardin, Southeastern Turkey. She had to emigrate to Manisa, Turkey, in the 90s due to the intensified repression of the state. Here she worked as an agricultural worker in fields for cotton, pepper, tomatoes and grapes. Later, Sêvê decided to leave Manisa as well, because she could not withstand the racist discrimination against her Kurdish identity. In her political work she was first actively involved in women’s work and carried out political work in Ankara, then in Diyarbakir, Konya and Mardin. She was also involved in the foundation of Tevgera Jinen Azad û Demokratik (free and democratic women’s movement) in 2005. She was arrested in Nusaybin in 2009. Sêvê who was taken to the E-type prison in Diyarbakir was also involved in the hunger strikes of 2012. These were initiated to improve the conditions of the chairman Abdullah Ocalan on the prison island. After her release from prison, she took an active role in political affairs as a member of the DBP in 2014. Also in this process she took women’s work and political struggle very seriously. During the self-government processes she was also involved in party activities in the Silopi district of Sirnak.
Place
Silopi, Southeastern Turkey
Date
04 January. 2016
Description
On 4 January 2016 during the curfew in the Silopi district of Sirnak, three Kurdish women politicians were murdered. Sêve Demir of the DBP (Party of Democratic Districts); Fatma Uyar of the KJK (Congress of Free Women) and Pakize Nayir (President of the Silopi People’s Assembly) were executed in cold blood. These women had planned to move from the “Karsiyaka” quarter to the “Yesilyurt” quarter in order to actively help the civilian population there. A Turkish tank targeted these women and their bodies waited for hours for an ambulance to pick them up. The ambulance did not arrive and they died as a result of serious injuries.
Current legal situation
In recent years a “restriction decision” has been taken on the file that was established. It is reported that there are photographs and recordings of it, but the lawyers have been forbidden any access to the file, so it is always unclear whether a legal development is taking place.
