UN condemns Turkey's tougher sentencing for children

Turkey's parliament passed new amendments to the Child Protection Law last week ordering child offenders to be held in closed juvenile institutions, with transfer to an education-based institution subject to assessment, the UN rights office said.

This breaks with the current practice of holding them directly in rehabilitative, education-based institutions, it added.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was "alarmed" by the changes.

"While some of the proposals may be positive --- such as those that aim to ensure better coordination between child protection and education services and to prevent children from accessing firearms -- others raise serious human rights concerns," he said.

"It is essential that the law is amended to ensure that all of its provisions are fully aligned with Turkey's international human rights law obligations, including on children's rights."

The new measures toughen the severity of prison sentences for child offenders aged 12 to 18.

Those aged 15 to 18 accused of crimes carrying aggravated life imprisonment, such as intentional killing, could now face jail terms of 19 to 27 years.

For other crimes carrying life imprisonment terms, the penalty is 15 to 18 years.

Turk's office said that juvenile justice should combine accountability with rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

Under international human rights law, children can only be imprisoned as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, it said.

Imposition of life sentences and lengthy detention measures on children "clearly runs counter to the protections enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child", it added.