"They are demanding that minors who participated in illegal demonstrations be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. An individual may commit a crime, but what is important is to impose a proportional punishment so that he is deterred and refrains from committing any other crimes in the future. However, asking for very long prison terms for individuals whom we can describe as children is unjust," remarked Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, chairman of the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER).
A total of 737 minors have been tried under the Anti-Terrorism Law since 2006 on the grounds that they were members of a terrorist organization or participated in illegal demonstrations.
Minors can be sentenced to several years in prison under various articles of Turkey's Anti-Terrorism Law. These articles include "spreading the cause of a terrorist organization," "committing a crime on behalf of a terrorist organization without holding membership," "resisting police dispersion attempts with weapons or instruments" and "vandalizing public property.
Several other minors were detained in eastern and southeastern provinces last Sunday during protests marking the 10th anniversary of the arrest of outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan. They were accused of hurling stones at security forces. Six of these minors were released yesterday.
Punishing minors with long prison terms serves no purpose other than escalating terror in the country, according to a number of civil society organizations.
"Dozens of children are tried in court for hurling stones at police and face harsh sentences due to flaws in the Anti-Terrorism Law. This law should immediately be amended and its flaws remedied. We need to come up with wise solutions if we want to solve our problems," Gergerlioğlu stated.
Musa Üzer, from the Freedom Association (Özgür-Der), said Turkey needed to discuss the mindset that allows the punishment of young people with long prison terms.
"I don't believe those who demand lengthy prison sentences for minors have an interest in welcoming these children back into society. They just want to protect the status quo," he noted.
Üzer also drew attention to the flaws in Turkey's judicial system that allowed the release of a number of high-profile names accused of membership in terrorist organizations from prison.
"We see hypocrisy here. Those who demand that minors who participate in illegal demonstrations and throw stones at police be sentenced to several years in prison are competing against each other to help release retired generals being held in prison," he remarked.
Retired Gen. Hurşit Tolon, a former 1st Army Corps commander, and retired Gen. Şener Eruygur, a former head of the Gendarmerie General Command (JGK), were released from prison pending trial for health reasons. The two are accused of membership in Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist organization charged with attempting to foment chaos and undermine stability in order to trigger a coup.
Another Ergenekon suspect who was released from prison for health reasons was Kuddusi Okkır, who was believed to be one of Ergenekon's financers. Okkır, who was suffering from cancer, died shortly after he was released from prison on July 3, 2008. Two other Ergenekon suspects, Workers' Party (İP) Deputy Chairman Ferit İlsever and journalist Ayşe Asuman Özdemir, were also released from prison last year for medical reasons.
"Evaluating all of these cases, you can see the flaws in our judicial system. We do not favor the participation of minors in illegal demonstrations, but do not approve of them being sentenced to long prison terms for doing so, either," added Üzer.
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