Spokespersons of the Initiative for Freedom Against Isolation, HDP Batman MP Ayse Acar and Agri MP Berdan Ozturk protested the increasing police brutality against protests in support of the hunger strikes.

The spokespersons issued a written statement and called on the AKP-MHP administration to end the arbitrary practices and the usurpation of lawfully recognized rights. The spokespersons said: “Otherwise they will cause calamities and deaths they can’t answer for or carry the load of.”

The statement said the following:

“HDP Hakkari MP and DTK Co-chair Leyla Guven’s hunger strike is on day 86, Nasir Yagiz’s hunger strike in Hewler is on day 73 and an ever increasing number of 284 prisoners, dozens of politicians and activists in Strasbourg and Newport, Wales have joined the hunger strikes against isolation on different dates.

The resistance started in Diyarbakir Type E Prison, which has witnessed historic resistances, against the 20 years of total isolation of Mr. Abdullah Ocalan grows in waves, while attacks against the resistance continue to get more violent. Prisoners who have been on a hunger strike for 30 days in the Bayburt Prison have been placed in solitary cells. The prisoners who have difficulty taking care of their own daily needs are not allowed to be accompanied by their wardmates. A similar practice is also imposed upon prisoners in the Edirne Type F Closed Prison and Elazig Prison Campus. Hunger strikers are placed in solitary cells and isolated.

Prisoners on hunger strike in the Kayseri Bunyan Prison have been issued disciplinary sentences and prevented from meeting with their families or participating in social activities. They have no access to fresh air as the yard is not cleared of snow.

Police violence against peaceful protests in support of the hunger strikes continues to intensify. Citizens holding a support demonstration in front of Leyla Guven’s house were attacked by water cannons, and journalists following the protests are either detained or insulted by the police.

The hunger strikers’ health conditions are at a critical level. Permanent damage is being done to their bodies. The hunger strikers’ demands are as righteous as they were on the first day. The isolation regime is a crime against humanity and must end at once. The fundamental common ignorance of dictatorships is that they disregard the possibility of suffering at the hands of the same unlawfulness they impose one day. The AKP-MHP administration insists on saying there is rule of law. They must end the arbitrary practices and the usurpation of lawfully recognized rights. The spokespersons said: “Otherwise they will cause calamities and deaths they can’t answer for or carry the load of.

Heed the demands of the hunger strikers and end the isolation regime that is a crime against humanity, while there is still time. Remove the arbitrary obstacles stopping Mr. Abdullah Ocalan and the prisoners in the Imrali Island from having regular visits with their families and lawyers.”