Democratic initiative’s first law passes in Parliament

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.

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).

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) partially backed the bill, while the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) extended full support to the bill, known by the public as the “stone throwing children law.” The law was passed late Wednesday night. The MHP requested a closed session for discussions on the bill, but the MHP’s request was rejected. 

Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin has said the PKK is bitter about the law. He said that it is no mistake that the PKK increased its terrorist attacks as legislators moved closer to solving the issue of unreasonable prison terms for minors, expressing the opinion that the long jail sentences for children actually serves the PKK’s interests.

Whenever legislators sit down to tackle the issue of long jail terms given to youths who throw stones at Turkish security forces during pro-PKK demonstrations in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish eastern and southeastern provinces, the PKK increases terrorist attacks on military and civilian targets, Ergin said, adding that this is no coincidence. “The organization doesn’t want legislative changes regarding stone-throwing children to happen,” he stated. 

He recalled that the PKK launched a deadly attack in the Reşadiye district of Tokat in December of 2009, when the bill was first sent to Parliament for discussion. He said the recent attack that left nine soldiers dead was an attempt to sabotage the bill. 

The PKK provokes minors participating in illegal demonstrations to throw stones at the security forces.

“The terrorist organization is against the enactment of this bill,” he said, “The terrorist organization wants to exploit the situation and exerts great effort to use it. They want to continue using these children. This is why there is an attack whenever Parliament gets closer to enacting this bill. Remember that when the bill was finally sent to the General Assembly [on Monday], six soldiers were killed in Hakkari.”

He said the bill was designed to stop children from being used as a tool by the terrorist group. “We want these kids to not be soldiers who fight security forces, but children who can benefit from the riches of this country. Even if we can save five or 10 kids from the terrorist organization, that is reason to be happy,” Ergin emphasized.

The minister added that the government was trying to save children who they believe are being used by the PKK to carry out violence and terrorism. “We decided to draft this legislation to give a second chance to those kids who were really deceived,” he said.

Democratic initiative won’t increase terror

Talks on the “stone-throwers’ bill” saw some fierce debate between political parties. The MHP claimed that the number of fallen Turkish soldiers in clashes with the PKK has increased since the government announced its democratic initiative. In response to such criticism, Ergin said: “The democratic initiative has been on the agenda in this country for the past year. When we look at the history of terrorism, it dates back 30 years. It is completely unconscionable to claim that democratic reforms increase terrorism. This never happens anywhere in the world. What we refer to as an initiative is only about extending fundamental rights and freedoms to all of our people.”

He also said that not only minors but everyone would benefit from the reductions in jail sentences for participating in illegal demonstrations that the law would introduce. “Not only minors but adults will also benefit from this law,” he said, adding that many articles of the current anti-terrorism law were adopted during the post Sept.12, 1980, period and were designed to make society “toe the line.” He asserted that most of the changes made are intended to harmonize anti-terror laws with the country’s penal code.

He also said he expected that 196 out of 2,460 children currently in jail will be able to benefit from this law as they are being tried on terrorism-related offenses. However, he said there was no statistical information available on the number of investigations currently under way into cases where minors were accused of similar crimes.