The European Court of Human Rights announced that they have rejected the appeal submitted in 2010, 8 years later.

The appeal submitted on March 2, 2010 to the ECHR had stressed violations of European Convention on Human Rights Article 2 regarding the right to life, Article 3 regarding the ban on torture, Article 6 regarding the right to a free trial, Article 13 regarding the right to effective appeal and Article 14 regarding the ban on discrimination.

CPT, THE ORGANIZATION LEGITIMIZING IMRALI

The court mentioned that the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) met with Öcalan in January 2010 and issued a report that said he “was not subjected to torture”.

The reports published by the CPT after their visit to Imrali in January 2010 had argued that the material conditions of Öcalan’s arrest were “generally acceptable”, choosing to legitimize the situation.

The ECHR is expected to make the detailed verdict public during the day.

HISTORY OF THE CASE

The case in the ECHR is about the attack and death threat Kurdish People’s Leader during a cell search in 2008. In October 2008, Öcalan’s lawyers and 236 prisoners had appealed to the Bursa public prosecutor’s office on grounds that Öcalan was subjected to torture and death threat.

In a press conference held on October 18, 2008, Öcalan’s lawyers said: “Öcalan’s room was rummaged completely by wardens with the excuse that they were conducting a search. He himself was removed from the room and taken to the cell next door. When he objected, he was told, ‘Shut up, you can’t speak, you have no right to utter a word.’ Two wardens took him by the arms, another pushed him from behind and he was made to kneel. This is a method of torture. When he said, ‘I’d rather die than be treated this way,’ one of the wardens said, ‘That time will come too,’ openly threatening his life.”

Protests were held in the streets for days after this attack, after which two of the wardens that attacked Öcalan were subjected to a disciplinary hearing but nothing came out of them. The Yalova Criminal Court rejected the appeal in July 2009. There is no legal authority in Turkey that can inspect the conditions in Imrali.

The appeal submitted on March 2, 2010 to the ECHR had stressed violations of European Convention on Human Rights Article 2 regarding the right to life, Article 3 regarding the ban on torture, Article 6 regarding the right to a free trial, Article 13 regarding the right to effective appeal and Article 14 regarding the ban on discrimination.

ECHR AND CPT HAND IN HAND

The silence of Western governments and international organizations in recent years in face of the isolation in Imrali has been confirmed with the ECHR verdict. The Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) prepared a report on their visit two years ago, instead of identifying the current conditions.

The CPT report based on a visit in 2016 voiced concerns that Öcalan and other prisoners have no contact with the outside world and added that the situation was getting worse. The CPT had called on Turkish authorities to take precautions to allow for prisoners to meet with their families and lawyers when they wished. Despite these points, the Turkish state never actually implemented any of the suggestions in the report.

The CPT legitimized the isolation and inhumane conditions in Imrali with this report, while the ECHR’s verdicts in past years added to the silence. The latest verdict by the ECHR came at a time when the fascist regime continues to institutionalize and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is looking to improve relations with Europe.

The ECHR had issued a verdict in 2014 rejecting the appeal Öcalan’s lawyers made by adding documents to the case in 2007 about the state wanting to “slowly kill Öcalan in prison by poisoning”, based on medical reports provided by the Turkish government and the CPT documents. That appeal had been submitted in 2003. The ECHR had argued that the conditions of arrest had been compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights after 2009. How isolation complies with human rights is a question that still begs an answer.

LEGITIMIZING THE ISOLATION

The ECHR verdict and the CPT announcing their report come at a time when the isolation imposed upon Öcalan is stricter than ever. Öcalan hasn’t been able to meet with his lawyers since 2011, and he has been completely cut off from the outside world since April 2015.
The most recent appeal by his family submitted in September was rejected on grounds that Öcalan received a disciplinary punishment. The Prosecutor’s Office announced that they won’t be allowing any meetings due to the disciplinary punishment Öcalan was issued on September 14, 2018 by the Imrali Type F High Security Prison Disciplinary Council. Öcalan’s family and lawyers were not given any information on the punishment.