Vigil for Öcalan to be held tomorrow in Strasbourg

A sit-in promoted by the Freedom for Öcalan Worldwide Campaign will be held tomorrow in Strasbourg.

SIT-IN FOR ÖCALAN

The sit-in organized by the Freedom for Öcalan Worldwide Campaign will begin tomorrow in Strasbourg.

The action will denounce the complicity of the Council of Europe and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) in the inhuman treatment reserved for Abdullah Öcalan in the Turkish Imrali prison for several years.

The sit-in is part of the campaign Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan – A political solution to the Kurdish question. The organizers said: "Both the Council of Europe and the CPT are responsible for monitoring the conditions of detention of Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan. They therefore have a legal obligation to ensure that the signatory states, in this case Turkey, respect international legal standards. In the case of Öcalan, however, these organizations failed to fulfill their solemn obligations. For example, the CPT recently visited Turkey from February 13 to 22, and during this period its delegation must have known that February 15 was the 25th anniversary of Öcalan's kidnapping; Yet the organization inexplicably refused to visit Imrali’s prison island or check on and confirm Öcalan’s well-being."