Keziban Yılmaz, a lawyer and a member of the Children's Commission of the branch, which drafted the report, called a press conference on Friday to announce its findings. The “Report on Detained-Arrested Children in East and Southeast,” Yılmaz said, states that 116 children of the 352 detained were arrested in the first quarter of 2011. They were arrested on charges of committing a crime on behalf of a criminal organization after chanting pro-PKK slogans or throwing stones at the police during street demonstrations, according to Yılmaz.
She said one of the most recent cases involved seven children who allegedly participated in an illegal demonstration and threw stones at the police. They were charged with disseminating propaganda of a terrorist organization, damaging property and committing a crime on behalf of a criminal organization.
Stating that the association sees this problem as an extension of the country's long-standing Kurdish issue, she said a recently passed bill, known as the “stone-throwing children bill” and which eases the sentencing of minors accused of fighting with security forces, is not enough.
The law made changes to the Counterterrorism Law (TMK) and various other laws ensuring that judges do not issue unjust sentences to minors involved in pro-PKK demonstrations. Some courts have been criticized for overly harsh sentences of up to 20 years for children participating in such demonstrations.
