A delegation chaired by HDP Urfa MP Dilek Ocalan met with the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to draw attention to Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Ocalan’s situation.

The delegation, including Ocalan’s lawyers Serbay Koklu and Meliha Cetin, as well as HDP Representative for the Council of Europe Faik Yagizay, met with CPT’s newly appointed executive secretary general Régis Brillat.

The delegation chaired by Dilek Ocalan told Brillat in the meeting that even family members haven’t been allowed to visit Ocalan for the last 2 years.

The delegation also said Ocalan hasn’t been allowed to meet with his lawyers for over 7 years and added that there has been no information on the other prisoners in Imrali either.

The delegation stated that they have no information at all about the prisoners’ right to life, their health or their safety, and added that there are serious concerns.

The delegation demanded that the CPT, under the CoE, visit Imrali and pressure the Turkish government to clear the way for visits with Ocalan.

CPT’S CONTROVERSIAL REPORT

The CPT had published their latest report on Imrali in March, but the report was based on a visit back in 2016. There was nothing in the report about Ocalan’s current conditions.

The report had voiced concerns that Ocalan and the other prisoners had no contact with the outside world and stated that the situation was getting worse. The CPT had called on Turkish authorities to allow family and lawyer visits at will. None of the suggestions listed in the report were taken into account by the Turkish state.

ECHR VERDICT IGNORING TORTURE

Months after CPT’s belated report, the European Court of Human Rights signed off on a verdict legitimizing the conditions in Imrali. The ECHR announced the verdict on September 27 and argued that Ocalan wasn’t under torture in Imrali. But the verdict was referring to an incident that happened 10 years ago. The appeal had been filed in 2010, regarding the physical attack and death threats against Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan during a search in 2008.

CONCERNS INCREASED

The controversial ECHR verdict and CPT report come at a time when the isolation imposed upon Ocalan is at its deepest ever. Both institutions refusing to reflect the current situation in the Imrali prison and referring to older incidents have increased rather than alleviated concerns. Ocalan, already unable to meet with his lawyers at all since 2011, has been absolutely cut off from the outside world since April 2015.