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THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE 2018 ANNUAL REPORT

Strategy for the Rights of the Child

The Strategy for the Rights of the Child was prepared by taking into account the legal
obligations at national and international level. The opinions of children, their families as well
as the staff of the Ombudsman Institution were also considered.

The Strategy aims at raising awareness of citizens about child rights by improving the
management of cases concerning children as well as improving the relevant activities of the
Institution so that the Ombudsman Institution is recognized as a reliable institution which
facilitates the implementation of child rights.

The mission and vision of our Institution in this subject is to aim at claiming children’s rights,
protecting and implementing these rights and accepting that all children have independent
rights within the laws, acting in compliance with the Convention on Child Rights, and
listening to the children and handling the complaints to the benefit of children.
This Strategy has been introduced to the staff of the Institution through a training program
and a Guidebook was prepared as a reference to make use in handling the complaints.

An example of an application filed by a child

The child applicant stated that his personal photos that he shared on his Facebook account
was copied by someone else and posted on a fake Instagram account which was opened on
his name, and asked for help to detect and punish the person who committed such cyber-
crime. After talking to the child as well as the Information and Communication Technologies
Authority, our Institution provided counselling for the applicant child and his family by giving
information for the parents who should take legal action on behalf of their child regarding
cyber bullying and cyber crimes.

In another application No.2018/7525, the applicant child stated that some of his friends
in the classroom used violence against him, his mother told this to his teacher and to the
headmaster, and contacted the families of his friends but his friends kept beating him and
therefore his mother wanted to change his child’s class but the headmaster rejected. After
communicating with the Administration, informing them about the shortcomings detected
in the management of peer victimization/bullying cases, drawing attention to the constructive
dialogue between the parent and the school management to the best interest and effective
access to the right to education of the child, the Ombudsman Institution issued Amicable
Settlement decision and ensured the change of the classroom by the Administration.

Considering that such cases have increased recently, it is proposed that the legislation on
education should be amended to regulate the bans on humiliating acts and ill-treatment such
as peer victimization at schools.

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