Polıce Violence

Fatma Kurtulan, MP for the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in Van and deputy chair of the party’s parliamentary group, has filed a question with the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office, asking for an investigation into the targeting of children by security forces in mass events.

She demanded a parliamentary investigation into cases of torture, maltreatment, beatings and death on the hands of police.

The MP pointed out that the United Nations’ Convention on the Right of the Child was being violated.

Article 37 of the convention reads as follows:

 “States Parties shall ensure that:

(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age;

(b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.”

The DTP said that the obligations were not followed, and that the opposite was taking place.

 She said that the most important reason for these violations was the 25-year armed conflict in Turkey, arguing that “such an environment causes serious violations of human rights.”

She added that a government which could not see that danger would also not be able to solve the problem.

Kurtulan emphasised that an utterance by the Prime Minister had encouraged security forces to treat children without mercy. He had said, “Whether they are children or women, whoever is in the grip of terrorism, our security forces will do whatever is necessary to struggle against them.”

She mentioned the names of children killed by police officers and also blamed the recent beating of 14-year-old S. T. by a special operations police officer using his rifle butt in Hakkari on this attitude.

Kurtulan said that it was vital that a parliamentary investigative committee was formed. (BÇ/AG)