Ending Free Counsel Victimizes Children

Referring to Turkey's Union of Bar Associations (TBB) decision to halt all free counseling services in the country for defendants prosecuted under the Criminal Procedures Code (CMK) as of August 1, the Association to Promote, Spread, Enforce and Monitor Enforcement of Children Rights (Gundem Cocuk/Agenda Children) has warned that it may have dire consequences for minors who are exposed to the threat of mistreatment and torture.

In a written statement it made in Ankara, the Association stressed that the current deadlock over the government's failure to pay a backlog of six months of cost for free counseling services offered by some 17,000 lawyers had come to the stage where it seriously endangered the right to defense while creating the risk of spread in torture and mistreatment.

It referred to the cause of the deadlock as "an administrative bungle" and called on all relevant ministries to allocate required and sufficient funds to the TBB to ensure continuation of services.

Gundem Cocuk also called on the TBB stressing that the profession itself carried a social responsibility and that to avoid an irreversible error, free counseling should continue for suspects, defendants and victims aged under 18.

The statement said the Ministries of Justice and Finance would be held responsible both politically and under law for any irreversible mistakes that could lead to violations of the right to defense. (KO/TK/II/YE)