Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.11.2018, Side 21

21 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 19— 2018
Journalists in Syria got me in touch
with the IFB, but in Turkish media
there were all these reports that his
body would be repatriated. I expected
that his body would be sent to Iceland,
and when I talked to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, my question wasn't
'if' I would get his body, but ‘how.’ I just
wanted his death to be confirmed. I
asked the Ministry to be in touch with
Turkish authorities to identify his
body. That hasn't happened yet. I don't
know if the Turkish government has
his body or just left it to rot.”
Eva continues: “The Icelandic
government says they're doing every-
thing in their power, but 'everything in
their power' obviously does not include
asking the Turkish authorities what
happened to the bodies of those who
were killed. I really don't know what
they have done. Every time I've asked
them, they've told me that this is not
possible, that this is not how things are
done. It's possible they've asked this
question, but then why not just tell me?
I don't understand why they can't just
ask them.”
A MADDENING PROCESS
The process that would unfold since
then, which is still ongoing to this
day, is one in which Icelandic authori-
ties insist they are doing everything
they can, but demonstrate an incred-
ible amount of deference to Turkish
authorities while not offering Eva
much by way of pertinent information.
“They say the Turkish authorities
have confirmed that Haukur is dead,”
she says. “How can they confirm he's
dead if they don't have the body? I think
it's strange. It's been seven months
now, and Turkey still hasn't responded
as to how they know that Haukur
is dead. Why doesn't the Icelandic
government do something more than
just email them? Why don't they ask
NATO for assistance, or the UN, or the
European parliament? Why do they not
ask for help if they can't do anything
more themselves? It's Iceland's right
to know what has happened to Icelan-
dic citizens. I don't really see the
Icelandic government doing anything
significant. They've just been email-
ing embassies. What are the embassies
supposed to do? The Icelandic govern-
ment is just doing a lot of things that
are not likely to yield any results.”
PUBLIC SUPPORT
If there is any silver lining in this, it’s
the level of public support Eva has been
getting.
“I think most people understand
how we are feeling,” she says. “There
are so many people in Iceland who
have been through the experience that
someone they love is missing and the
body isn't found, or know someone
who has been through this. The only
people who seem to not understand
what we're going through are the
authorities.”
One of the more common conten-
tions that has been raised to explain
the Icelandic government’s lackadaisi-
cal attitude about Haukur’s disappear-
ance is that, as a constant thorn in the
side of Icelandic authorities, they are
more than happy to be rid of him. Eva
rejects this theory outright, attribut-
ing how the Icelandic government has
responded to more mundane elements.
“I’ve wondered about this myself,
but I don’t think this is the case. I think
they are just incompetent and lack
experience and understanding,” she
says. “I don't think the inaction has
anything to do with him being rebel-
lious. I think they would not behave any
better if he was an unknown person.
Maybe they would have tried a course
of action that's more efficient if he was
related to someone in the government.
I think the Icelandic government sees
the Turkish government as allies, in
some way, both being in NATO, and the
Icelandic government has been doing
some business with Turkey. I think it
has more to do with that. I don't think
they hate Haukur; I think they just
don't care about him, just as they would
not care about someone they had never
heard of. They lack competence and the
will to do something about.”
Even in her time of confusion and
grief, Eva sees her situation as being
symptomatic of a larger problem.
“This is not the only time that
someone has gone missing and it
seems that the police are not really
investigating,” she says. “Of course, the
Icelandic police don’t have jurisdiction
in Turkey, but they do have an obliga-
tion to Haukur and me and his family
as Icelandic citizens. So even though
they can't investigate this as though it
had happened in Iceland, they are still
obliged to get answers and do some-
thing efficient about it. The police
are either not skilled for such inves-
tigations or they don't consider them
important. They do good work if it has
something to do with drugs or protests,
but in too many occasions where citi-
zens are under some kind of threat, like
physical assault, it seems that they are
not really ambitious."
WHAT NOW?
On September 28, the Ruling Commit-
tee of Information Matters concluded
that there are several documents that
Eva is entitled to, but the Foreign
Ministry has yet to hand them over.
Rather, the Ministry has said that
when they are done processing
another information request that she
filed, then they will take the commit-
tee's conclusion into consideration.
Further, the Parliamentary Ombuds-
man has three times now asked the
Foreign Ministry for a progress report.
The Ministry only replied early in
October, saying they are just about to
do something about it.
The whole process has left Eva
feeling as though she is spinning her
wheels.
“I don't really feel as though I can
take any steps,” she says. “What I have
been trying for months is to get exact
information about what they have been
doing. So when I find out what they
have been doing, then I can decide what
I'm going to do next—if I'm going to
travel to Turkey to find out for myself,
which I don't think is a good idea, but
maybe that'll be the only option. Maybe
I can initiate legal proceedings to get
the state to acknowledge my right to
information. But first I must know
what they have been trying to do.”
REMEMBER HAUKUR’S
REAL LEGACY
Praise has certainly been heaped on
Haukur’s memory since his death,
from people around the world, who
know him solely as yet another foreign
fighter to be felled defending the Kurds
against the Turks. Eva would rather
not see him remembered this way.
“I really wish that people who want
to fight for justice and are compassion-
ate towards oppressed groups would
find some other way than joining an
armed resistance movement,” she says.
“I really hope Haukur won't be remem-
bered for only that, because there are
so many other things that he had done
before. I hope that people who admire
Haukur look to these things.”
Anyone who knew Haukur and has
been following this story since his
reported death has likely asked them-
selves: what would Haukur think of all
this? Eva believes, if her situation and
his were reversed, that Haukur would
probably go much further.
“Haukur didn't want the authori-
ties to search for him,” she says. “He
didn't want to have anything to do
with them. Of course, he doesn't have a
choice now; it's my right to know what
happened to him. Haukur thought that
even if he didn't want to have anything
to do with authorities, the state is a fact
that we have to contend with. Since we
don't have any other choices, we are
forced to pay taxes to the state, we are
forced to follow the law of the state
even if we didn't support this law or
didn’t vote for the parties who created
it. Because we have no choice but to
respect the state. But the state also
has obligations. He made this clear in
many instances, especially regarding
cultural and economic rights. I think
that if he was in my shoes, he would
be very angry at the government for
not doing anything because as citizens,
we don't just have obligations, we have
rights. I think if I was the one who was
lost, and he was the one dealing with
the government, he would have done
something far more significant than
just raising the Turkish flag on top of
the government offices like his brother
did last June, or to write some blog
posts about it like I've done. I think he
would have found some other way to
get his message through.”
“When he was in kindergarten, he got a written assessment from
his teacher, who said that Haukur was the mediator in the class;
that he was the most peaceful of all these children and always
wanted to take everyone's interests into account.”
Photo: ???
Photo by Brian Sweeney
Photo by Eva Hauks