Mazlum Dağ and Abdurrahman Er are accused of shooting dead the Turkish vice-consul and intelligence officer Osman Köse and two other people in a luxury restaurant in Hewlêr, the capital of the South Kurdistan autonomous region, on 17 July 2019. In February 2020, Dağ and Er were sentenced to death by the 2nd Criminal Court in Hewlêr in a show trial under pressure from Turkey. Immediately following the trial, the two activists were placed in a prison cell next to ISIS jihadists. On 22 September 2020, the death sentences were confirmed by the Court of Cassation.

The two Kurdish prisoners have been constantly subjected to serious rights violations since the day they were imprisoned. The prisoners, who have repeatedly gone on hunger strikes so far in response to oppression and violations, started a new hunger strike on 18 May to protest the ongoing violations, specifically the imposition of uniform dress.

Abdurrahman Er’s uncle, Necmettin Er, stated that the health condition of the two prisoners was getting worse. He said: “Their situation is very bad. They are subjected to strict isolation. We cannot communicate with them directly. We are getting information via a friend in the Maxmur camp. They entered the 43rd day of the hunger strike. According to the information we obtained, the condition of my nephew, a diabetic patient, is very critical. As his family, we are very worried. My nephew has lost more than 20 kilos. Mazlum is a little better. They are supposed to get B1 vitamins, which, however, is denied. In fact, they are on a death fast. We can't obtain reliable information. We hired a lawyer, but there was no result.”

Abdurrahman Er and Mazlum Dağ are subjected to isolation at the request of the Turkish state, said Necmettin Er and continued: “They are constantly subjected to pressure upon the request of the Turkish state and intelligence service. They are kept in isolation and are now exposed to torture and ill-treatment because they did not accept the imposition of uniform dress in prison. The physical torture has decreased a little, but they are held in solitary confinement and are held in a handcuffed state to the doors in the corridor for hours. The money we send is not given to them. They are kept in separate cells and have no contact with each other.”

Criticizing the inaction by the public, Er said: “There is a silence in the public towards this inhuman treatment. Only a few articles appeared in the free press. Nobody is interested, there is silence. I spoke to an official from Amnesty International in Switzerland. The official told me that they would do whatever they could. However, he said that they did not have an office in South Kurdistan, and they would report the situation to the office in Baghdad. This means that there is no direct contact.”

Uncle Er urged everyone who is in favour of democracy and human rights to be sensitive. He added: “At the moment, we cannot reach any officials. Their health condition is at a critical stage. According to the latest information obtained, my nephew can't even stand up properly. I call on Kurdish public opinion and everyone who is in favour of human rights to stand with these young people.”

The demands of the Kurdish hunger strikes are as follows:

1- End to torture and ill-treatment

2- Removal of the imposition of uniform clothing

3- End to solitary confinement and relocation of both hunger strikers into the same room