Children do not make terrorists
by
CÜNEYT YÜKSEL*

As is clearly stated in the AK Party’s program, the AK Party sets its democratization policy as guarding the happiness, welfare, rights and freedoms of the southeastern region’s population. Our party is working to provide the needed rehabilitation by starting serious economic projects to increase employment in the region and implementing policies to reduce the suffering of our citizens who have been hurt from the environment of terror of the past 20 years.

In “Crime and Punishment,” Dostoyevsky thoroughly examines the economic and social conditions that may lead a young person to commit a crime, along with the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of the criminal, Raskolnikov. Our government is determined not only to end the terrorist acts carried out in the eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey, but also to find long-term and concrete economic, social and legal solutions to improve the welfare of the regions, rather than taking precipitous short-term steps in order to achieve this goal. Here it should be underlined that the unitary structure of the Turkish state and solidarity among all citizens are of the utmost importance.

In Turkey, when children between the ages of 15 and 18 are tried for terrorism-related crimes, they are treated the same way as adults. This means that what becomes important is the crime that has been committed, not the person who commits the crime. However, when the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Turkey is also a party, and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules) are examined, it can be clearly seen that in the trial of juveniles, what is important is not the activity, but the actor, namely the child. Therefore, the welfare of the child is the most important factor in the trial of a juvenile. International principles make no exception to the fact that every person under the age of 18 is a child, no matter what crime they have committed, including crimes of terrorism!

In the trial of juveniles in relation to terrorism-related crimes, the basic principle of looking out for the “best interests of the child” should be the framework of the case. According to international documents, the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be used only as a measure of last resort and the interests of the child shall be of the utmost concern. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Riyadh Guidelines, Beijing and Havana Rules and, last but not least, the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights should be taken as guides. Please keep in mind that children do not make terrorists! That should be the fundamental principle which will shed light on all the steps we take in the future.

The procedures and merits on the trial of juveniles and the exceptions made to the 18-year age limit present in the Prevention of Terrorism Act are being removed by the law drafted by the Turkish Ministry of Justice. The draft law enables all children accused of crimes of terrorism, regardless of their age, to be tried in juvenile courts. In addition to this, the application of the aggravated punishments foreseen for adults to children below the age of 18 is being brought to an end. Also, the 15-year age limit on the postponement of judgment, the commuting of prison sentences to alternative sentencing and the suspension of the sentences set forth in the Prevention of Terrorism Act are being removed.

The foremost concern of the juvenile criminal justice system is the reintegration of the juvenile and adjusting the response to juvenile delinquency, taking into account the child’s age and circumstances. In the juvenile justice system, the reintegration of the child into society is the rule, while punishment is the exception. International law does not make exceptions to these fundamental principles regarding the juvenile justice system, not even in the case of crimes of terrorism. Therefore, I regard the mentioned draft law with regards to these improvements positively.