As the Unconditional Justice Movement, we stood our tenth watch in front of the European Court of Human Rights on Friday, January 29. This watch lasted two hours with the participation of three people.
- Hundreds of children, in the age group of 0-6 years, are in the prison with their mothers. According to the most recent data released by the Department of Justice in November 2019, this number was 780. While 15 months have passed, the Department of Justice has not revealed the number of children between the ages of 0 and 6 who remain in prison with their mothers. The parliamentary questions submitted by some members of parliament on this issue were not answered by the Department of Justice.
- In the era of the pandemic, solitary confinement became a heavy burden. With the pandemic, children who can go to the nursery part of the prison in normal times are not allowed to meet under a free sky, even with other friends who live in prison, like them. Many mothers who do not want their children to grow up behind bars are forced to give their children to a relative. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, many of those mothers are not able to see their children face to face.
- One of the detainees who are in prison with her baby is A.G. A.G., who is in Tekirdağ Prison, received disciplinary punishment with her baby for what she said to the guard who did not bring baby food suitable for her baby and was sentenced to 10 days in solitary confinement.
- Nurhayat Yıldız, who became pregnant following extensive efforts and IVF treatment, miscarried in her fourth month. Att. Özge Elif Hendekçi and Att. Esra Uymaz Saral was also in prison with her babies. Although Saral was released from prison, Att. Özge Elif Hendekçi is still in prison with her baby. Just last week, four babies were arrested with their mom and sent to jail. İlayda Tekgöz was arrested with her two four- and one-and-a-half-year-old children, Yasemin Melizci with her nine-month-old baby and Burcu Kara with her eleven-month-old baby.
- Under Article 16 of the Criminal Code of Execution, mothers whose babies need care cannot be arrested. In the event of punishment, their execution is deferred until the child is 1.5 years old. However, we awoke the first day of this year with news of a police raid in the hospital room of Hacer Yıldırım, who had just given birth.
- Ayşe Çelik, who was sent to prison for saying “Don’t let children die” in a television program and was released on 06.05.2018, said, “I will feel free as soon as babies reunite with their mothers”.
The imprisonment of an infant is the imprisonment of his or her childhood. It is shocking for everyone to raise children who require the care and affection of their families, whether behind bars or without their families. Do not steal the childhood of children!