Amed Bar Association releases report on violations of children’s rights

The Amed Bar Association released a report called “Violations of Child Rights by Armored Vehicles, Mines and Remnants of Conflict – War”.

The report was prepared by Bar’s Child Rights Center members, Özlem Ender, Şoreş Deniz Tuğrul, Ömer Sansarkan and Murat Aba, who presented it at a press conference in the Tahir Elçi Conference Hall.

The report sheds light on the deaths and injuries of children as a result of armored vehicle crashes and explosions of mines and remnants of war from 2011 to 2021.

The number of child deaths caused by armored vehicles, mines and remnants of war has significantly increased in the predominantly Kurdish eastern and southeastern provinces.

22 children killed by armored vehicles

The report said that 22 children lost their lives and 27 children were injured in armored vehicle crashes in Turkey in the last 10 years. While 21 of the deceased children were in the Kurdish-majority provinces, one child was in the western Marmara region.

45 children killed by war remnants

45 children lost their lives as a result of war remnants in the region, 126 children were injured. In the Mediterranean and Aegean in the west, nine children in total lost their lives as a result of war remnants.

The report finds a significant increase in the number of deaths and injuries between 2016 and 2018. 52 percent of the violations of rights occurred in this period, according to the findings of the report.

Drawing attention to impunity in the ensuing judicial proceedings, the report shares information about the files and court rulings on the deaths of Efe Tektekin (5), run over by an armored vehicle in Amed on 11 September 2019; brothers Muhammed Yıldırım (7) and Furkan Yıldırım (6), run over by an armored vehicle that pull down the wall of their house while they were sleeping in Silopi (province of Şırnak) on 4 May 2017; and Helin Hasret Şen (12), who was killed when fire was opened from an armored vehicle in Sur (Amed) on 12 October 2015. The judicial proceedings ended in impunity for perpetrators, underlined the report.

Reccomendations

The report ends with a series of recommendations to prevent the deaths caused by armored vehicles and explosions of mines and war – conflict remnants.

The Amed bar underlined the importance of mine clearance efforts and added that the state should  fulfill its obligations arising from the Ottawa Treaty. Asking for an amendment to the Highway Traffic Regulation, the report also recommends that armored vehicles should be banned from entering the city centers or their use should be minimized and it should be ensured that they abide by the intracity speed limits if a complete ban is not possible. 

The Bar also requests an effective investigation and prosecution in such incidents and calls for an end to impunity.