Killing of child in firearms training ground: 'State should ensure that children live in safe places'

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Urfa Bar Association and the Diyarbakır Bar Association Children's Rights Center have released statements on the killing of Muharrem Aksem, 16, in the predominantly Kurdish-populated southeastern province of Urfa.

On March 24, Aksem was found dead with multiple bullet wounds in an area where the special operations police use for firearm training.

Describing the incident as "not an individual case," the Diyarbakır Bar said, "The requirements of children's right to life, development and protection within the scope of legal legislation should be fulfilled by the states. In this context, children should be protected from all kinds of dangers, live in a healthy environment and develop themselves in a healthy way.

"The practice carried out in a way that would disrupt the bodily integrity of a 16-year-old child and cause the violation of his right to life shows the recklessness of the law enforcement officers in the region.

"The practice conducted in this way without any security measures is the result of the state's practice of impunity and the sense of legitimacy it creates.

"We demand that an effective investigation be carried out against all people concerned in order to reveal the perpetrators of the killing of M.A., who lost his life as a result of this non-individual incident."

"Violation of the right to life"

The Urfa Bar Human Rights Center said, "It was stated that there were shrapnel marks on his body, there were bullets that could shatter even the stone, which could be smoke ammunition, the child's hand was missing, his body was dismembered, and there was the smell of gunpowder when [lawyers] arrived there.

"They stated that the family lawyers were following up the file and that the report had not yet come. Unsupervised target practice and failure to take the necessary security measures clearly lead to a violation of the right to life. The state primarily has an obligation to ensure the right of children to live in safe areas." (AÖ/VK)