Submitted by crinadmin on
At least 107 children have been taken into custody during protests regarding the commemoration of PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party) leader Abdullah Ocalan's arrest on 15 February 1999. Local papers report a baby being hurt in a police raid on the house of suspected participants, and a child blinded when a police gas bomb hit him in the eye. In Yüksekova, a child was allegedly hospitalised when a police vehicle ran over him. Five children were taken under custody and released after questioning. Sixteen children were taken into custody in Nusaybin, Mardin; two were then sent to prison. In Diyarbakır, 16 children are reported to be still in police custody. Eighteen children in Adana and 20 children in Batman are under custody. Allegations include police checking passing children's hands to see "if they have marks to prove they throw stones." Rights activists and family members of the accused children will meet MP's in parliament. They will demand amendments to the law, in order to end the ordeal for children tried with terror charges. An Initiative for Justice for Children, including rights activists from Diyarbakır, Ankara and Istanbul will initiate a campaign in this respect. More than a thousand people have signed an online petition, which can be reached at Çocuklara Adalet. Responding to a motion by DTP MP Selahattin Demirtas, Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Sahin revealed that 724 children were detained in 2006 and 2007 for offences related to the Counter Terrorism Law. Of these, 319 were tried in courts in Diyarbakır, the focus of Kurdish unrest in Southeastern Turkey. Another 422 children were tried under Article 220 of the Penal Code during the same period, which penalises "organising to commit crime." Another 413 children were accused of "membership of armed organisations", as defined in Article 314 of the Penal Code. In 2006, the government introduced a change to the Counter Terror Law, which enabled courts to try children aged between 15 and 18 as adults. In the same year, the Court of Cassation made a leading ruling, deeming participation in an protest as legal proof for "membership of the organisation". As a result, hundreds of children are tried for membership of the PKK, which activists say is against international standards. Further information
pdf: http://www.bianet.org/english/kategori/english/112634/rights-activists-r...