Kurdish children jailed in Turkey under anti-terror law NO MORE

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The law reduces the penalty for children accused of terrorism-related offenses and reforms legislation that has come under severe criticism from human right groups. Under the reform, children taking part in illegal protests or spreading separatist propaganda will no longer be prosecuted under anti-terror laws. Juvenile courts will handle cases related to such minors. The law also reduces the minimum prison sentence for anyone taking part in illegal protests to six months from one-and-a-half years.

Parliament passed a law Thursday night reducing penalties for children accused of terrorism-related offenses. This is the first law enacted as part of the government’s democratic initiative....

Hundreds of Kurdish children -- some as young as 11, according to human rights activists -- have been prosecuted by Turkish courts in the country´s Southeast. The new bill is part of the Justice and Development Party´s (AK Party) democratic initiative project designed to boost the rights of Kurds and end the terrorism of the Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK). The law was passed despite opposition from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/..law-passes-in-parliament.html 

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What a wonderful feeling to see something RIGHT is being done (despite the opposition from the racist party!!)

We had a discussion about it here : http://www.turkishclass.com/forumTitle_46841

This is not a solution.

Still, Some people use innocent children for their aims. They give 5 lira and send them to do bad things and then, suddenly these ppl become a human rights defender!

I do not understand how come a 11 year old child can do a plan to attack polices, state buildings? who is the guilty one? their families or some politicians? or kurdish families?

What about our human rights to live safe and happy life, I never could understand these people! And In some way both party its responsible fro this! These children needs to be educated!

Turkey has signed the Children´s rights charter of the UN like a lot of countries in the world. This charter secures the rights of children (in some countries this is below 18, in others this is below 16 years of age). This means that kids have a right to education, and can´t be thrown into jail like that. If they commit a crime, they are allowed to be punished ofcourse, but the charter states that this can´t be done in an adult way. The punishment must have an educational purpose, to bring kids back on the right path. By this change in rules, Turkey is simply following the promises it has made in the past by signing that charter. Juveniles must go to a juvenile court. I don´t see how this change in law will make Turkey more unsafe. I think it will make the coutry safer, actually. Give the kids who went on the wrong path a chance to better their life, instead of pushing them further into a criminal exitence.

I support this law as well...provided a further law is passed, to try and punish guardians of such children as well.

childhood is a social construction,that means it depends on society ,its norms, hear says and ways of perceiving..varies from society to society,providing wide array of perspectives but in fact the notion of childhood is quite a new one.Dating back to 19th century in Western civilization.Till 19th century kids were nothing but poor replica of adults, even poorly represented in arts

Kids..those innocent when one can think,easily manipulated or those from death troops from Africa,poisoned with drugs and ideology,used by adults...

Kids..the future of mankind

I am appealed when I hear kids suffer, or when they are used,or they are deprived of happy childhood, targets of adults´ ambition...

no matter what is their ethnic origin,they should be protected,educated,saved...and under no circumstances  should they be a matter of politics of those who are cowardish enough to hide behind kids!!!!

You are completely right. Our state should do its part. We are currently changing our laws.

That said, what is your opinion about the families of these children? Giving birth to a child is a serious matter. You have to provide all the best for them. The typical family of these children is 3 to 6 kids (or even more usually in East and South of Turkey), and low income. What can you expect from these families for these children? They are all in streets without any parental guidance, they will not get a good education or any education at all. They have no bright future ahead, that´s for sure. They are given stones and told to throw them at Turkish police and end up in a prison. They are toys of the PKK. Shouldn´t we blame PKK for their acts?

So what should our state do for this families? Aren´t they guilty here? Don´t you think father and mother should be punished for not taking care of their children? What would your state do in such a case? Any punishment for parents? I think the children are taken away from the families and the State bring them up, right?

Try educating those stone throwing kids...you will immediately be labelled as an ASSIMILATIONIST.......Can you beat that?

I agree that we should look better at the parents, and the environment in which the kid grows up. A 11 year old can never be a "terrorist" by himself. Although, I think a kid throwing rocks can never be labelled a terrorist. With punishment of kids you have to think of what is best for the future of the state. But I do have to put a big ´but´ when we look at punishing the parents. In some cases this would be just. However, a parent can never control a kid 24 hours a day. I have had some experience with kids that have ADHD. It´s a disorder that makes children hyperactive, and you can influence them very easily. If you tell a kid like that "here, I bet you are to scared to throw that rock at that policeman", they will simply start throwing rocks at the police!

I think the key here is to give more individual attention to the kids, their families, and the circumstances that led to their criminal activities. Only if you know why and how they did the bad things, you can try to prevent it in the future.

I believe parents whose children are let to wander int he streets should be fined. In some  countries there´s a law that children can´t be unattended till they´re 11 or thereabout. In Poland parents are heavily fined in their children skip school. If negligence repeats itself children should be given foster care. It´s not enough to breed children, you should have only as many as you can raise properly. And it´s not a matter of money - some poor families do a great job raising children. It´s about how much time you spend with children, and what you teach it. If your children are just a burden to you and you let them raise themselves, then perhaps the country should help you get rid of the trouble...

I really think people who are not satisfied with this change of the law and try to accuse those kids or their parents should read Murat Belge´s writings:

(They are Turkish)

http://taraf.com.tr/murat-belge/makale-hakkari-hatirasi-iii.htm

http://taraf.com.tr/murat-belge/makale-hakkarinin-sonu.htm

He was trying to find an answer to a young person´s question: ´Hocam -my teacher-, what do you want us to do if you dont want us to throw stones´

Apperantly he could not find a proper answer for them (after explaining they are the generations born in poverty after their parent were forced to leave their villages when they were burnt etc)

He tried to explain ´the contditions in which those kids exist , are forcing them to fight..No matter what the fight is..´

He thought that "those kids knew they would not change anything by throwing stones".

He also ´interestingly´ conclude that, those kids wont listen to anybody (including their parents) but only Apo.. He was not sure if it will be the case for tomorrow..

That is unfortunately where our approach to our Kurdish problem brought us..

In the UK too.  Unfortunately, many parents who are subjected to the fine don´t have any money.  There have been odd cases where parents have been imprisoned for non payment.  I think they should be made to attend some form of parenting class or carry out some form of community service, especially if they don´t work.

this law is not for kurdish children..this law is for every child in TR who break the law.....,

DJ

 I don´t agree with this. Apo doesn´t live in these kids houses. How do they know about Apo? The number one influence on children is their same sex parent. The number two influence is their different sex parent. You can´t say "those children only listen to Apo"... Did Apo come to their house since they were young, introduced himself to them as babies, and influenced their daily routine for the next 18 years? I don´t think so... The fact that they "listen to Apo" also has a reason, and that reason is their environment.

I think the teacher is not a good teacher if his answer is "I don´t know"... Come on.. when I was a kid and I got bullied, I became very aggresive and used to get into fights all the time. At one point I even got into trouble for it. Do you think my teacher said "oh, you are bullied... well, I know that you can´t do anything else than fight"... (I know this is not the same situation, i´t´s a metaphor, stick with me). I have learned through the important people in my life (like parents, family and teachers), and by history lessons that nothing is more powerfull then the human mind. I have learned that if I want to make a change, I need to use my brain and my words, and for example, go into politics, protest, go to international court, etc. Using violence is a sign of a lack of brainpower.

One very good way of assesing those stone throwing kids of Kurdish ethnic origin, is to gently interview their classmates of Turkish ethnic origin - who has to share same schools and classrooms with these angelic vigilantes, simply because their fathers are stationed in the same area.

Only then, one can appreciate the degree of hardship young children can be sujected to.

There are always two sides to a coin: but some can only see one side.