Child rape brought to Parliament agenda

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) parliamentary group chair İdris Baluken asked whether sergeants charged with child abuse kept their posts. AA photo

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy parliamentary group chair İdris Baluken has issued a motion addressed to Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin probing the progress of a case in which eight sergeants allegedly raped and sexually abused a child in Bingöl, saying the apparent lack of effective investigation concerning the case is against “the spirit of the peace process.”

Only one of the suspects of the rape case was taken into custody following great public outcry after all were released, Baluken noted July 8 and demanded an explanation as there was no difference between the sergeants’ actions.

Similarly, Baluken asked Ergin whether the sergeants have been kept in their posts. “Have the eight sergeants whose names were mentioned in sexual abuse and rape been removed from post?” the motion read and asked the reasons of such lack of action. Baluken also asked whether military authorities had any judicial or administrative investigation.

Baluken further questioned the investigation process regarding Medeni Yıldırım, an 18-year-old protester killed during the Lice incident, in which the police fired into a crowd that was demonstrating against the building of police station.

Baluken’s motion also probed the compatibility of the lack of action regarding the investigation of the death of Yıldırım with the “spirit of the peace process” when considered jointly with the rape case in Bingöl. “Do you consider working on stopping inhuman practices against the Kurdish people and on the justice to be manifested, for the sake of worries to be relieved and the peace process to progress along a healthy course?” he asked.