Journalist tell of violence suffered by children
Journalist tell of violence suffered by children
DÝHA reporter Özlem Aðuþ had written the following news on what a jailed child went through in two different prisons;
''While the practices of sexual abuse and physical violence against children in Pozantý prison continue to provoke reactions, T.T., who was held in that very prison two times four years ago, when aged 16 told about what he witnessed and experienced there. T.T. pointed out that he and some other children were also exposed to sexual abuse in Kürkçüler E-Type Prison in Adana as well.
T.T. claimed he and 25 others who were taken into custody on 10 February 2008 had been subject to torture in Daðlýoðlu police station for two days. T.T. said that; “They forced me to turn into an informant for the. They told me that I would be released if I agreed to work with them. However, when I didn’t accept their offer, they told me that I would in that case be held in prison for 15 years. I didn't believed it until I was sentenced to imprisonment in the trial and sent to Kürkçüler E-Type prison.”
Telling about what happened when he was taken to Kürkçüler E-Type prison, T.T. said that they had been tortured and abused by soldiers soon after their delivery to prison. “It was a rainy day when we were taken to the prison. We were made to undress in the prison garden which was full with water because of the rain. After looking at the accusation which said we were PKK members, the soldiers beat us for a long time. Afterwards we were a taken to the room of the commander and to a small cabin afterwards. We were made completely unclothed and harassed after that. We were delivered to guardians after the sexual harassment ended”, told T.T.
T.T. underlined that they were subject to assault and torture by all prison authorities from the moment they were put in wards. T.T. added that; “It was the guards’ turn now to beat us, we were being beaten with iron sticks every hour of the day and night.”
T.T. told that 25 children were all put in one ward and continued as follows; “There were only three bunk beds in the ward where we, 25 children, were trying to sleep one on top of the other. When it was head count time the guards were coming with iron sticks and beating us until our hands and feet became bruised. We would have no strength left when our parents came there for a visit. On the other hand, we didn’t suffer from physical torture alone as the foods given to us were ten day’s old. Even animals wouldn’t eat these foods and the teas given to us were like muddy water. They treated us like dirt, we were left hungry for the whole of the one week we stayed there.”
T.T. told that one week later they were transferred to Pozantý prison where-he said- everything was much worse than Kürkçüler prison. After being beaten for the last time before our transfer from Kürkçüler prison, we were once again beaten by guardians in Pozantý prison, told T.T. and continued as follows; “We had been subjected to all kinds of psychological and physical torture in every sense but the torture and practices in Pozantý prison utterly different. When we first came here, they gave us ten year-old blankets which smelled so bad that some of us got poisoned and were taken to hospital. Ordinary prisoners were transferred to the ward of political prisoners and they were not only seizing the money sent by our families but also the food given to us. They made children wash their underclothes.”
Claiming that ordinary prisoners were transferred to these wards to “apply torture” on political prisoners, T.T. said that; “These ordinary prisoners were making us suffer from unbelievable tortures and sexually abusing our friends. I was also subject to sexual abuse once, which made me see the prison administrator to voice my complaint. However, the perpetrator of the sexual abuse against me threatened me with death if I would happen to mention his name in my complaint. Furthermore, it was not only sexual abuse that the jailed children suffered from ordinary prisoners. We knew that the children in A-5, B-1 and C-2 wards were being raped by these ordinary prisoners.”
T.T. said that he was released from Pozantý prison after six months and that he was once again sent to there after being detained six months later on charges of “being member to the terror organization” and “spreading propaganda for the organization”. “I stayed there for four months this time and nothing had changed in the meanwhile. Children were still suffering from torture, sexual abuse and rape”, added T.T.
Remarking that the state gives a different shape to torture by holding ordinary and political prisoners in the same ward, T.T. pointed out that a blind eye has been turned to rape and sexual abuse for many years now and added; “Although this prison has been brought to the agenda only now, these kind of events have always been witnessed and experienced by children who however abstained from telling what they went through. However, risking death, we have always held our head high and we have never surrendered ourselves and our will to the enemy. During the imprisonment, I always thought about Mazlum Doðan and Kemal Pir who never resigned themselves despite all pressures put on them during the hunger strike acts they staged. I tried to be as resistant as they were. We have never quailed we will never quail before the enemy thanks to Mazlums, Kemal Pirs and the Kurdish people.”
''While the practices of sexual abuse and physical violence against children in Pozantý prison continue to provoke reactions, T.T., who was held in that very prison two times four years ago, when aged 16 told about what he witnessed and experienced there. T.T. pointed out that he and some other children were also exposed to sexual abuse in Kürkçüler E-Type Prison in Adana as well.
T.T. claimed he and 25 others who were taken into custody on 10 February 2008 had been subject to torture in Daðlýoðlu police station for two days. T.T. said that; “They forced me to turn into an informant for the. They told me that I would be released if I agreed to work with them. However, when I didn’t accept their offer, they told me that I would in that case be held in prison for 15 years. I didn't believed it until I was sentenced to imprisonment in the trial and sent to Kürkçüler E-Type prison.”
Telling about what happened when he was taken to Kürkçüler E-Type prison, T.T. said that they had been tortured and abused by soldiers soon after their delivery to prison. “It was a rainy day when we were taken to the prison. We were made to undress in the prison garden which was full with water because of the rain. After looking at the accusation which said we were PKK members, the soldiers beat us for a long time. Afterwards we were a taken to the room of the commander and to a small cabin afterwards. We were made completely unclothed and harassed after that. We were delivered to guardians after the sexual harassment ended”, told T.T.
T.T. underlined that they were subject to assault and torture by all prison authorities from the moment they were put in wards. T.T. added that; “It was the guards’ turn now to beat us, we were being beaten with iron sticks every hour of the day and night.”
T.T. told that 25 children were all put in one ward and continued as follows; “There were only three bunk beds in the ward where we, 25 children, were trying to sleep one on top of the other. When it was head count time the guards were coming with iron sticks and beating us until our hands and feet became bruised. We would have no strength left when our parents came there for a visit. On the other hand, we didn’t suffer from physical torture alone as the foods given to us were ten day’s old. Even animals wouldn’t eat these foods and the teas given to us were like muddy water. They treated us like dirt, we were left hungry for the whole of the one week we stayed there.”
T.T. told that one week later they were transferred to Pozantý prison where-he said- everything was much worse than Kürkçüler prison. After being beaten for the last time before our transfer from Kürkçüler prison, we were once again beaten by guardians in Pozantý prison, told T.T. and continued as follows; “We had been subjected to all kinds of psychological and physical torture in every sense but the torture and practices in Pozantý prison utterly different. When we first came here, they gave us ten year-old blankets which smelled so bad that some of us got poisoned and were taken to hospital. Ordinary prisoners were transferred to the ward of political prisoners and they were not only seizing the money sent by our families but also the food given to us. They made children wash their underclothes.”
Claiming that ordinary prisoners were transferred to these wards to “apply torture” on political prisoners, T.T. said that; “These ordinary prisoners were making us suffer from unbelievable tortures and sexually abusing our friends. I was also subject to sexual abuse once, which made me see the prison administrator to voice my complaint. However, the perpetrator of the sexual abuse against me threatened me with death if I would happen to mention his name in my complaint. Furthermore, it was not only sexual abuse that the jailed children suffered from ordinary prisoners. We knew that the children in A-5, B-1 and C-2 wards were being raped by these ordinary prisoners.”
T.T. said that he was released from Pozantý prison after six months and that he was once again sent to there after being detained six months later on charges of “being member to the terror organization” and “spreading propaganda for the organization”. “I stayed there for four months this time and nothing had changed in the meanwhile. Children were still suffering from torture, sexual abuse and rape”, added T.T.
Remarking that the state gives a different shape to torture by holding ordinary and political prisoners in the same ward, T.T. pointed out that a blind eye has been turned to rape and sexual abuse for many years now and added; “Although this prison has been brought to the agenda only now, these kind of events have always been witnessed and experienced by children who however abstained from telling what they went through. However, risking death, we have always held our head high and we have never surrendered ourselves and our will to the enemy. During the imprisonment, I always thought about Mazlum Doðan and Kemal Pir who never resigned themselves despite all pressures put on them during the hunger strike acts they staged. I tried to be as resistant as they were. We have never quailed we will never quail before the enemy thanks to Mazlums, Kemal Pirs and the Kurdish people.”
