Children are still being sent to jail
Children are still being sent to jail
On July 25, the amendment to the Anti-Terror Law (TMK) known as the “Child Stone Throwing Law” came into effect, yet security authorities trample on children rights. According to the revised TMK, children will not receive prison sentences for attending political demonstrations or protests unless they use firearms at the event in question.
In the past 25 days, police arrested 15 children in Mersin alone. Eyüp Sabri Öncel, Member of Human Rights Association (IHD) Central Executive Board, that the legal change has not improved the condition of children or mitigated the state’s prosecution of children involved in demonstrations.
According to DIHA Agency, in total, 20 children over the past days were taken into custody for allegedly “being members of an illegal organization,” “acting on behalf of an organization,” “bringing a member to the organization”, “damaging common property”, “using explosive material” and “opposing the law at a demonstration”. The children are all 14 or 15 years of age.
Furthermore, some of the children’s families allege that, some of the children were forced to perform labor for police while in custody and others forced to sign false confessions, writing their signature to the bottom of a blank page before the police wrote fabricated confessions.
Tuncel believes that the amended TMK is nothing more than a piece of paper: “The amendment was made to calm people not as a permanent solution.
Still, Kurdish children can be accused for being members of an illegal organization or making propaganda. This violates international and national law on children’s rights as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children. The government needs to find a new way to address these issues instead of arresting children,” said Tuncel.
In the past 25 days, police arrested 15 children in Mersin alone. Eyüp Sabri Öncel, Member of Human Rights Association (IHD) Central Executive Board, that the legal change has not improved the condition of children or mitigated the state’s prosecution of children involved in demonstrations.
According to DIHA Agency, in total, 20 children over the past days were taken into custody for allegedly “being members of an illegal organization,” “acting on behalf of an organization,” “bringing a member to the organization”, “damaging common property”, “using explosive material” and “opposing the law at a demonstration”. The children are all 14 or 15 years of age.
Furthermore, some of the children’s families allege that, some of the children were forced to perform labor for police while in custody and others forced to sign false confessions, writing their signature to the bottom of a blank page before the police wrote fabricated confessions.
Tuncel believes that the amended TMK is nothing more than a piece of paper: “The amendment was made to calm people not as a permanent solution.
Still, Kurdish children can be accused for being members of an illegal organization or making propaganda. This violates international and national law on children’s rights as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children. The government needs to find a new way to address these issues instead of arresting children,” said Tuncel.
