DRI Backs Duchess Of York In Exposing Abuses To Children In Turkish Institutions
(Disability Rights International)
May 24, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC– [Excerpt provided by Inclusion Daily Express] This morning, an Op-Ed by DRI President Laurie Ahern was published in the Washington Post. The Op-Ed defends the actions of the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, who is currently being prosecuted by the Turkish government for "acquiring footage and violating the privacy" of children in a Turkish state-run orphanage.
The ITV of London investigation was a follow-up to DRI's 2005 report, "Behind Closed Doors: Human Rights Abuses in Psychiatric Facilities, Orphanages and Rehabilitation Centers in Turkey," which documented the abusive treatment of children and adults locked away and forgotten in state facilities.
Toddlers in Turkey who scratched, hit and bit themselves — a result of mind-numbing boredom and lack of stimulation — had their hands "covered" by plastic liter bottles that had been cut in half and duct-taped around the children's wrists.
As the Op-Ed states, "The hypocrisy of the Turkish government in prosecuting the duchess, who courageously exposed torture and neglect of Turkish children, is appalling. Turkish officials seem concerned with the privacy of children, most of whom have intellectual and physical disabilities, even as they violate those children's most basic human rights . . . Children with disabilities hidden away in closed institutions have no voice, no choice and no control. They are the population most vulnerable to abuse at the hands of state actors."
Entire article:
Nations Must Protect Their Children, Not Their Reputation
http://www.disabilityrightsintl.org/2012/05/21/1097/
Related:
Nations must protect their children, not their reputations (Washington Post)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0524121b
Behind Closed Doors: Human Rights Abuses in Psychiatric Facilities, Orphanages and Rehabilitation Centers of Turkey (DRI)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0524121c
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