The Anti-Terror Law (TMY) prepares the ground for the arrest and heavy punishment of thousands of children and juveniles merely because they attended a demonstration. The legal amendment of the TMY effected in July 2010 did not bring the expected relieve. Now, the courts apply Articles 220/6 and 314/2 of the disputed law.

Hence, the children stand accused of "committing a crime on behalf of an organization" and "membership in an armed organization" respectively.

Juvenile courts instead of high criminal courts

Lawyer Keziban Yılmaz told the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) that the amendments of the TMY mean that the children and juveniles who attended demonstrations and meetings shall not be tried on charges of "terror crimes" for the offences they allegedly committed in the course of the event. However, they are still being tried as members of illegal organizations for all other sorts of crimes, Yılmaz explained.

Lawyer Canan Atabay from the Diyarbakır Bar Association pointed out that most of the children and juveniles are being tried under allegations of carrying Molotov cocktails since this offence was not removed from the scope of punishment upon the amendments of the TMY.

While the arrested children and juveniles were tried before High Criminal Courts prior to the amendments, they are now being prosecuted for the same reasons at Juvenile Courts.

Many protest actions were carried out around 15 February to mark the day when Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had been brought to Turkey. Öcalan is imprisoned on İmrali Island (Sea of Marmara) since 1999. In the course of this year's demonstrations, many children were taken into police custody in Istanbul,  Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Mardin, Batman, Mersin, Urfa, Adana, Van, Siirt and Şırnak, mainly Kurdish-majority cities in southern and south-eastern Turkey. A total of 55 children and juveniles were arrested and imprisoned by Juvenile Courts under Articles 220/6 and 314/2 of the TMY.

Amnesty International criticized Turkish authorities

Amnesty International (AI) launched a campaign for children and juveniles who were taken into custody and arrested merely for attending a demonstration from 2006 till the present.

Amnesty International emphasized that thousands of children were subjected to prosecution. The organization conceded that amendments made last year were being appreciated but underlined that not all of the children were released from prison as a result.

As reported by the Fırat News Agency (ANF), Amnesty International urged the officials to abide by international norms on human rights and the Turkish law regarding the judicial system for children. "Turkish authorities did not fulfil the obligation of a reliable, consistent and effective investigation regarding the ill-treatment of arrested children in custody and during interrogations", AI criticized. (EKN/EÖ/VK)

Sources: BirGün Newspaper, ANF, DİHA.