22 children were detained during Newroz celebrations last year and have been convicted of “convicting crimes in the name of an illegal organisation” and “spreading organisation propaganda.
"Loss of humanity"
The president of the Human Rights Association (İHD) branch in Adana, Ethem Açıkalın, said in a written statement, “With every child that is convicted, we lose our freedom. We don’t only lose our hope for peace, but also our humanity.”
The 22 children in Adana had been detained after Newroz celebrations in Adana. Eight of them had been tried in detention.
On Monday on Tuesday, the 6th, 7th and 8th Heavy Penal Courts decreed their punishments.
Eleven children aged 13 to 18 have been acquitted of the crime of malicious injury. However, they received one year prison sentences each for “committing crimes in the name of an illegal organisation” and “spreading organisational propaganda.”
The sentences were reduced by a half for those under 15, and by a third for the others.
The IHD has said that the sentences were based only on police reports, and that a slingshot and marbles found on one child had been counted as evidence.
In another court case, eleven children were sentenced to imprisonment under similar accusations.
In addition, a 17-year old child who was arrested during protests on 9 February 2008, close to the anniversary of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s capture, has received a prison sentence of 8 years and 6 months. The punishment was later reduced by a third.
Children as "terrorists"
Following changes in the Anti-Terrorism Law in 2006, children aged 15-18 can now be tried as adults. This has resulted in hundreds of children in different provinces being tried for “organisational membership”.
This year again, more than 100 children were taken into police custody before and after 15 February for taking part in demonstrations in support of Öcalan.
Over 1,500 children on trial
In answer to a motion in parliament, Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Şahin reported that 1,572 children were put on trial in 2006 and 2007 for “terrorism crimes” under the Turkish Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Law. 174 children were convicted, 92 of them in Diyarbakır, in the southeast of Turkey.
Since December 2008, rights activists have been lobbying for children’s rights and have been monitoring the cases. (EÜ/AG)
