The isolation against Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan is getting worse. The ongoing isolation that has been going on for 21 years has taken on different dimensions especially in recent years.
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) report on Turkey's prisons, described the system applied in Imrali drawing attention to the isolation and torture. The CPT report’s observations have been confirmed and reiterated internationally for many years in Turkey and Kurdistan.
Feyzi Çelik, a lawyer from the Istanbul Bar Association, and Medeni Gür, an executive from the Free Lawyers Platform (ÖHD), talked about isolation to ANF. They said that the CPT's investigations on torture cases in prisons were important, and added that the report became an important record in terms of international law.
Free Lawyers Association (ÖHD) Van Branch executive, Medeni Gür, underlined that Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan has been kept in isolation for 22 years with a penal execution regime that has no precedent in the world.
Reminding that the last family visit to Öcalan was made in early March, while the last visit by a lawyer was made in August 2019, Gür said: “Not being allowed family and lawyer visit is a serious violation of rights. Isolation has no legal basis. That is to say, according to the ‘Regulation on Visiting Convicts and Prisoners’, the prison administration should allow an open visit a week and closed visits on the rest of the month.”
One of the most important finding in the CPT’s Turkey report in 2019 is that Abdullah Öcalan and the other prisoners are kept under an ‘isolation system’ in Imrali. "The CPT has defined the regime in Imrali as an ‘isolation system’. This is important because it is the recognition of what national and international institutions have been exposing for years. That also means, that this system can no longer be applied.”
Gür underlined that if the isolation continues in the same way, the failure of the states to take responsibility and do what is necessary about a wrong officially determined would mean they will be legally liable.
Feyzi Çelik, a lawyer from the Istanbul Bar Association, said that the existence of the CPT is related to the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment. "The report is binding. Failure to provide the right to visit Öcalan and the other prisoners in Imralı has been considered as a violation. Moreover, this is a right violated also in Turkish law. Therefore, both international and national laws are clearly violated. The CPT itself has no decision-making power. It will notify the existing violation to the Council of Europe, which is the higher institution. The Council of Europe can make the necessary warning to Turkey on this issue. Sanctions can be issued as the removal of Turkey from the European Council.” Çelik added: “The authorities responsible for this violation have legal and criminal liability. A criminal complaint can be made about the relevant authorities in this regard. Situations such as the current pandemic cannot be put forward as obstacles to the functioning of legal mechanisms. The CPT's report is not only about Imralı. It speaks of a general unlawfulness which means that the situation is very bad.”
RELATED NEWS:
