which they had immunity. It was even stated by Van Bruinessen that some village guards were recruited among known smugglers. The amount of village guards surged from 18,000 to 63,000 between 1990 and 1994. The Turkish Interior Ministry estimated that 296 murders were committed by village guards between 1985 and 1996. In a subsequent report in 2006, the Ministry indicated that some 5,000 village guards were involved in criminal activities. By the year 2000, over 1100 village guards have died in clashes with the PKK and about an additional 1100 were wounded. Crimes Village guards have immunity for crimes even for rapes or killings. The right to bear arms often lead to solving disputes between a village guard and a "terrorist" in the killing of the latter. At times also minor conflicts during the soccer game of children or in business relations were solved this way. The commission of Unresolved Killings from the Grand National Assembly of Turkey came to the conclusion that most of drug trafficking in the region is controlled by the Village Guards who trusted in their protection from prosecution. Whilst not officially endorsed by the Turkish Government, some village guards are reported to have been involved in "disappearances", extrajudicial executions and torture. The Turkish government reported that the Village Guards were implicated in attacks on Kurdish internally displaced persons returning to their villages after forced evacuation. During the conflict Turkish government used village guard system to distinguish “loyal” and “disloyal” citizens and backed the system with material benefits and coercion. A report by the Turkish Parliament in 1995 confirmed that village guards have been involved in not just these but a wide range of illegal activities, including killing, extortion, and drug smuggling. Human Rights Watch has stated that for years they have received reports of "violations by village guards—murders, rapes, robberies, house destruction, and illegal property occupation, among others". They add however that not all of these reports have been confirmed first hand. Training and recruitment According to the US State Department, accepting to become a village guard is a voluntary process, but there are other reports of forced recruitments. In a report by the Human Rights Watch, it is mentioned that if the villagers did not want to become village guards, it was likely that their settlement was surrounded by troops loyal to the Turkish government and then the village would be destroyed and evacuated.