THE DEATH SENTENCE WAS IMPOSED ON 231 CHILDREN BY STATE SECURITY COURTS IN

SE TURKEY

MPA: Thessaloniki, October 20, 1999

The state security courts in south-eastern Turkey have imposed the death

sentence on 231 children, 11-17 years old, in the past 9 years according to

the Bar Association in Diyarbakir. In the same period of time, 1.830

children, 11- 17 years old, received prison terms and of them 634 were found

guilty of crimes related with the PKK.

The Diyarbakir Bar Association children's rights committee president Arif

Altunkalem has appealed to the European Court for Human Rights underlining

that the imposition of such sentences is a violation of the European Human

Rights treaty which has been signed by Turkey. He also points out that those

trials were illegal; because the procedures were not held in juvenile courts

but in state security courts which have no authority over such cases.

According to information provided by the investigation, 49 of the children

that were sentenced to death by the 4 state security courts in Diyarbakir

were 11-14 years old and 182 were between 14 and 17 years old. Most of the

death sentences were imposed in the period 1994-96.

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TURKEY: TENS OF CHILDREN ARE BEING TORTURED IN POLICE CUSTODY

MPA: Thessaloniki, October 15, 1999

Tens of children have been tortured in Turkey in 1998 and most of these

inhumane acts (64.8%) took place in the security forces' headquarters.

According to data provided by the Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers of

the Human Rights Institute in Turkey, 10% of the 673 complaints for tortures

made to the five centers of the institute concerned children under the age

of 18 and most complaints were made in the south- eastern regions followed

by the eastern part of the country.

The security forces' headquarters top the list with the torture areas,

followed by police stations, the military police stations and prisons.

Of those who submitted the complaints, 92% were tortured for their political

beliefs and 8% for a number of different reasons. Of those tortured, 314

were held in custody for 1 to 3 days, 150 from 4 to 7 days, 137 from 8 to 15

days, 52 from 16 days to one month and 20 of them were held for over a

month.