A delegation from the autonomous region of North and East Syria visited the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva on Wednesday and conveyed the demands of millions of people for the release and lifting of the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan. Turkey's attacks on North and East Syria were also discussed during the conversation.

The delegation represented the popular initiative "Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan", which launched a cross-border signature campaign for the Kurdish People's Leader, who is imprisoned on the Turkish  island of Imrali, at the beginning of the year.

Abdullah Öcalan is considered a key figure for a solution to the Kurdish question. Dealing with him is the yardstick for a solution to the war against the Kurdish people, which has been going on for decades and is being waged far beyond the borders of Turkey.

The campaign was carried out not only in theNorth and East Syrian Autonomous Region, but also in the regime-controlled areas of Syria, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (South Kurdistan) and Lebanon.

2,646,211 signatures delivered

On Tuesday, the delegation held talks with the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) in Strasbourg to deliver over the 2,646,211 signatures collected within three months for the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan. Îdrîs Saîd, co-speaker of the initiative, and Xanim Eyo from the Association of Lawyers of Northeast Syria also presented the same dossier to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Sit-in in front of the UN headquarters in Geneva

After the conversation, the delegation took part in the sit-in organized by the Democratic Kurdish Community in Switzerland (CDK-S) as part of the “Time for Freedom” (Dem dema azadiyê ye) campaign every Wednesday since January 2021 in front of the UN Headquarters in Geneva.

The action reminds the United Nations of their responsibility towards the Kurdish people, as well as underlining that the central demand of the Kurdish people is Öcalan's physical freedom.

The Kurdish people's leader, who has been imprisoned in Turkey since 1999, continues to represent the Kurdish freedom movement and is being completely isolated on the prison island of Imrali. At the sit-in of the Kurdish community in Geneva, current events are discussed every Wednesday.