By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, February 1, 2001; Page A14

VIRANSEHIR, Turkey -- The scene described by witnesses could have been snapshots from
any rural community around sunset -- four boys playing cards on a street corner, another
youth fetching nuts from the market, other groups of youngsters playing hide-and-seek and
scrimmaging with a soccer ball.

Police paint a different picture, saying a large group of youths in this small town in Turkey's
conflict-wracked southeast were demonstrating against the state, yelling "Damn Turkey!"
and "Long live Kurdistan!"

Much of what happened on Jan. 8 and in the days that followed is still unclear, but this much
is certain: 28 Kurdish boys, most of them 15 years old or younger, were handcuffed, arrested
and jailed for two days without seeing an attorney. After signing numerous documents, all of
the youths, most of them illiterate, were charged with being terrorists for allegedly chanting
anti-state slogans. They then were taken to a prison, where six are still incarcerated.

A week after the roundup, 13 were charged with aiding and abetting a terrorist organization,
according to an attorney for the youths, Mahmut Vefa, secretary general of the Diyarbakir
Bar Association. He said all of those charged are between 9 and 16 years old; charges
against the 15 others were dropped. The newspaper Milliyet reported that the prosecutor in
the case was seeking prison terms of 23 to 30 months.

The incident that occurred in this town about 50 miles southwest of Diyarbakir, the regional
capital, touches on some of the most sensitive issues facing Turkey, particularly its poor
human rights record and an unresolved 16-year conflict with Kurdish separatists. Ethnic
Kurds, who account for 15 percent of Turkey's population, predominate here in the
southeast, and the conflict between Turkish forces and separatist guerrillas has resulted in
the killing or disappearance of 30,000 people.

Following the February 1999 capture of the country's top Kurdish rebel -- Abdullah Ocalan,
leader of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) -- and his call for followers to lay down their
arms, Turkey promised an ambitious program to restore normalcy to the southeast and
promote reconciliation.

But critics here say the government continues to rely on military force and draconian
anti-terrorist laws that are further polarizing the population. Such policies will likely
continue, they said, as long as the military continues to dictate domestic policy on Kurdish
issues.

"How can these families trust state institutions or the state itself?" said Hanefi Isik, a top
official in Diyarbakir with the Human Rights Association. "This will not produce a lasting
solution; it will only create more problems."

One of the most hotly contested facts in the case of the Viransehir children is who, exactly,
remains in prison and where. The chief prosecutor said the six in custody were the oldest in
the group and all probably 18. Vefa, their attorney, insisted that three are 15 and three are
16. All were charged on Jan. 15, Vefa said, and are being held with adult prisoners at the
Sanliurfa prison, about 50 miles from their homes.

The other children charged range in age from 9 to 14, Vefa said. They were released after
spending a week to 10 days in jail and prison, officials said. "The police say they did not
torture anybody, but I have seen the children with my own eyes, and they are all in shock.
They all need serious psychological treatment," Vefa said.

"The six in prison, being so young, were too scared, and they said whatever the police told
them to say and confessed to the prosecutor that they committed all the crimes," he said.
"They do not know the meaning of the situation, or the legal terms. I don't think they even
know the difference between a lawyer and a prosecutor; to them it's only a big man talking.
They only look at us with empty eyes when we are talking."

Saban Erturk, chief prosecutor of the Diyarbakir State Security Court, where the case is
being heard, said all the defendants were examined "by an expert doctor who determined
they were legally liable for and aware of their actions" in chanting anti-state slogans. A
judge reviewed the case and ordered the defendants jailed, he said.

"Here, a child of 12 knows what these slogans mean," he said.

Turkey's anti-terrorism laws grant officials wide latitude in curtailing activities and rights --
including basic freedoms of association and expression -- if deemed necessary to protect the
integrity of the state. The three-judge State Security Court, which handles terrorism and
organized crime cases, has been singled out for criticism by the European Union for
including a military judge, despite handling cases involving civilians in "overtly political
crimes."

Erturk denied that any of the suspects was tortured, saying that most people apprehended
under Turkey's anti-terrorism law have made such claims. He said physicians examined all
the defendants and that none showed signs of physical abuse.

"There was not any heavy torture like electricity, et cetera," said Vefa, the youths' attorney,
who described the abuse as "beatings, depriving food, not allowing toilet visits, keeping them
standing and heavy insults."

Many details about the incident are disputed. Human rights activists, attorneys and town
residents acknowledge there was a demonstration, a day or two before the arrests, in which
slogans were shouted. In response, they say, dozens of police officers swooped into their
small community in a series of hours-long nighttime raids over three days and detained more
than 60 people, including many children who were playing hide-and-seek, soccer and other
games in the twilight before dinner.

None of the people in the town would be quoted by name, saying they fear the return of
police and retaliation against the children still in custody.

Erturk denied that a 9-year-old was detained, saying it would be against the law because
children of that age are not considered liable for their actions. He also asserted that only the
28 boys were apprehended during the operation.

One of the youths who was charged, held and released said in an interview that police beat
them during their first two days in custody, "telling us if you don't sign [the documents
presented to them], we will beat you and kill you and torture you."

"I signed many papers," often with a simple "X" or other mark because he can neither read
not write, he said. He said he doubted he would get a fair hearing when his case goes to trial.

Attorneys for the children said that under the country's terrorism law, they were not allowed
to have a lawyer during their initial 48-hour detention, when many of the youths apparently
signed confessions. However, they said, only prosecutors -- not police -- are allowed to
interrogate children and take their statements during that time. Human rights activists and
attorneys for the children said, however, that police took their statements -- an allegation
denied by prosecutor Erturk.

Erturk also said that all the children were being held in juvenile detention facilities, a
contention disputed by attorney Vefa.

Erturk said that the entire case is under review and that if police or prison authorities
violated any laws they would be prosecuted.

"It's very difficult to assess the special conditions that exist here when you look at it from the
outside," he continued, explaining why Turkey's laws allowed the arrest of children for
shouting slogans.

"Diyarbakir has 1 million people, and if we tolerate children protesting and lighting fires and
chanting in different parts of the city, it would create chaos," he said.

"If you are going to live together in peace, it shouldn't be just the state that makes sacrifices.
The people should obey the laws and not demonstrate," he said. "They say there were 9- and
14-year-olds, so families should take care of their children. What are they doing out on the
streets after dark?"
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com