Adana: 3,155 Children Arrested in 2009

Adana is a city where a lot of Kurd who were forced to move out of Kurdistan have relocated. The governor of Adana has threatened Kurdish parents by taking their children away from them if the children were to participate in demonstrations. Bianet article summarizes how children are treated in Turkey by building on the situation in one city alone.

A report prepared by the Human Rights Association (İHD) Adana Branch revealed that 3,155 children aged 13-18 were arrested in Adana in 2009. 122 of them were taken into custody in the course of social uprisings. 299 children were taken into detention, 54 of them in the scope of social uprisings.

The association demands: "Detained children who came into conflict with the law should be released immediately".

According to the data compiled by İHD Adana, 48 children were sentenced to a total of 203 years, three months and 15 days imprisonment under charges of "throwing stones to police forces" and "spreading propaganda of illegal organizations".

Torture in police cars, at police stations and in prison

İHD Adana received 62 applications related to children in 2009. According to the report, the children were beaten in police cars and at the Police Department; they were threatened and restrained by hand-cuffs or chains when they were taken to another place.

Two children claimed to have been beaten by the police when they came back from a wedding ceremony. They were allegedly taken to an orange grove where they were beaten and threatened to "confess their crimes".

16 people detained in the children's prison of Kürkçüler Prison in the town of Pozantı stated that they were beaten by soldiers. Moreover, the soldiers supposedly told the guards that the children were terrorists and that "they could do with them whatever they wanted". One child said that he was insulted by the house physician and was made to clean the infirmary bathroom.

Violations in the Pozantı Children's Prison as revealed by the report read as follows:

- 13 people are forced to sleep in bunk beds designed for six people

- Beating wet hands with plastic pipes

- Neglect of health problems

- Implying pressure on the children regarding the election of the ward headman

- Forced education of the National Anthem

"Stop prosecuting children for terror crimes"

These are some of the recommendations comprised in the İHD Adana report:

The respective articles of the Anti-Terror Act and the Criminal Code providing for the prosecution of children for "terror" crimes should be amended as well as politics assessing children as "members of terror organizations".

Children should be tried at juvenile courts.

A Social Studies Report should be prepared to understand the reasons behind the crimes committed by children and to establish recommendations for prevention.

Experts should prepare reports regarding 12-15-year-old children's understanding of their crime and of the consequences of their behaviour.

No child should be deprived of his or her rights, including the right to education. Psychological and developmental support should be provided to children throughout the duration of prosecution and afterwards.

All kinds of violence against children should be prevented and forbidden by law. (TK/VK)

This is the Turkey who is sympathetic to Palestinian children throwing stones at IDF soldiers. Yet, when Kurdish children express their frustration against the forces that burnt their homes and killed their relatives, the children immediately become terrorists. Ridiculous.