|
Turkey: Kurdish Children Get Police & Courts, Not
Schools
5.7.2006
|
|
|
|
Diyarbakir Bar
Association reveals that out of 10 thousand 193
suspects brought before courts last year, 2,197 were
children. Criticizing the lawyers say effective
social policies to protect children need to be
enforced.
Diyarbakir, Kurdistan-Turkey, July 5 - The
Diyarbakir Bar Association has revealed that out of
10,193 suspects that were brought before courts in
the city last year, 2,197 were children, describing
the situation as "grave".
Citing data with the Diyarbakir Bar Association
Criminal Procedures Law (CMK) Enforcement Centre,
association president Sezgin Tanrikulu said the
figures showed how grave the situation was in the
city and warned that it would become worse "unless
effective social policies to the advantage of
children are enforced in a short time".
Diyarbakir Bar Association CMK Enforcement Centre
Coordinator Baris Yavuz explained, meanwhile, that
the most important cause for every one out five
people being put on trial in the city being a minor
is internal migration and the poverty this has led
to.
Both Tanrikulu and Yavuz told bianet that by
continuing to treat child offenses as only an issue
of public order and security, the government was
ignoring the community and social dimensions of the
problem and making the situation worse.
CMK Centre Appoints 7,153 counsel
The Diyarbakir Bar Association CMK Enforcement
Centre also revealed the number of attorneys
appointed by them addressing applications made to
the association between January 1-November 21, 2005.
According to the information released, 5,243 file
and 1,175 instruction files were sent to the Centre
from criminal courts in Diyarbakir in this period
and a total of 7,215 attorney appointments were made
to represent 10,575 suspects.
Of the 10,575 suspects that the Bas Association
represented, 10,193 were put on trial as defendants
where 7,153 appointments of attorneys were made. And
of the 10,193 defendants, 2,197 were children.
In the same period, the Centre also appointed
attorneys for 230 child victims.
According to the Centre, 3,423 of the offences
committed in the same period were petty theft and
similar offences.
Yavuz: What are so many Kurdish children doing at
courts?
The centre's coordinator Yavuz asked "What are so
many children doing at courts?" adding that "instead
of putting children on trial at courts, children
offences need to be protected with very serious
projects".
Yavus argued that increasing the maximum punishment
in the penal code was not a solution to child
offences and recalled that despite the new Penal
Code (TCK) going into force on June 1, 2005 with
higher sentences for offences such as theft and
robbery, there had been no decrease in offences
committed by minors.
"Children are primarily forces to theft,
purse-snatching and pocket-picking offences" he
said. "Unfortunately, increasing the penalty is not
a solution".
Bianet org
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 