A Demonstration Against Turkey’s Inhumanity

Berivan, a 15 year old Kurdish girl, was detained this past October at a pro-Kurdish rally in Turkey and charged with shouting slogans and throwing stones. Despite denying these accusations and explaining that she was not part of the rally—but was merely watching out of curiosity on her way to visit an aunt—Berivan was sent to jail for eight years. There are currently hundreds of other Kurdish children in Turkish jails for similarly false accusations and minor offenses. The United Human Rights Council (UHRC) and several Armenian and Kurdish youth organizations organized on March 24 a demonstration outside the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles to demand the release of Berivan. In addition to erecting an eight-by-eight makeshift children’s cell to represent the unjust jailing of Berivan, demonstrators also released doves into the sky and called for the freeing of the more than 2600 minors currently in Turkish prisons.