Women and children to be left unprotected

MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed- Turkish parliament passed the Law Proposal on the Amendment of the Military Penal Code and Some Laws, known as the “4th Judicial Package” in Turkey. According to one of the 14 articles passed by the parliament, “concrete evidence” will be required for the arrest of suspects in “catalog crimes,” including child abuse, sexual abuse cases, murder in the first degree, and torture. We spoke to lawyer Berivan Turan, a member of Diyarbakır Bar Association Women’s Rights Center about how this new law will affect women and children. Berivan Turan pointed out that the victims of sexual abuse, particularly children, will be left unprotected by the new law seeking concrete evidence.

“They needed such package because Turkey was moving away from law”

“The contradictions in the justice system and its implementers in Turkey reveal with the law proposal,” Berivan Turan said, “The criterion of ‘strong suspicion of having been committed a crime’ in the legal system must be based on concrete evidence indicating a crime has been committed. However, this package was needed because Turkey was moving away from the law. A criterion already written in law was underlined and added in the package.”

“The new law will leave children unprotected”

Stating that the new law seeking concrete evidence for arrest in sexual abuse cases will make the arrest of suspects more difficult, Berivan Turan said, “Finding concrete evidence is sometimes very difficult. If a certain period has passed since the incident took place, it becomes even more difficult. Moreover, even the reports of experts, the statements of children, and the drawings in the Elmalı child abuse case may not be considered as evidence. How can children draw something that they don’t know? When children say they are subjected to sexual abuse, their statements will not be considered as evidence and more concrete evidence will be demanded. In this way, children will be left unprotected.”

“Demanding arrest warrants will be almost impossible”

Berivan Turan talked about the criticism against the new law and she said, “The package sparks anger on social media. This situation revealed absurd situations, for example, a sheik, who was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl, demanded his release after the package had been passed by the parliament. It will be possible to issue an arrest warrant in only cases in which the perpetrators will be definitely punished. While it is very difficult to find concrete evidence in sexual abuse cases, demanding arrest warrants in such cases will be impossible.”

“Perpetrators are protected”

“Some crimes shouldn’t have been added in the new law,” said Berivan Turan, who thinks victims of sexual abuse should be protected. “Statements of women and children must be considered as concrete evidence,” she said.

“The opinions of the bar associations are not taken into account. Disadvantaged groups and gender inequality are not considered. The principles of universal law are also disregarded. We can say that; the ruling party rewards perpetrators of sexual abuse instead of preventing sexual abuse crimes. The more we demand the perpetrators be punished, the more they are protected.”

Berivan Turan also mentioned Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and she said, “Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention increase violence against women. We don’t demand new laws that protect the perpetrators. We demand the Istanbul Convention be implemented.”