Activists holding a vigil in front of the UN headquarters in Geneva since 2021 reiterated their demand for freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and remembered Seyit Rıza and his companions executed in Dersim in 1937, and victims of the Amude Cinema fire in 1960.
A vigil by the Democratic Kurdish Community in Switzerland has been taking place in front of the UN headquarters in Geneva since 25 January 2021. Every Wednesday, activists stage a protest in front of the United Nations building to demand the release of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan. The action is carried out as part of the 'Dem dema azadiye' [Time for Freedom] campaign and directed against the isolation of the Kurdish leader on the Turkish prison island of Imrali, the Turkish occupation attacks on Kurdistan, the massacres committed in Kurdish territories and the silence of the UN.
Today’s vigil began with a minute of silence paying tribute to Seyit Riza, chieftain of the Dersim Rebellion in 1937-1938, and his companions who were executed on 15 November 1937.
Addressing the crowd, Tuba Yilmaz, co-chair of the Democratic Kurdish Community Center in Geneva, remembered 283 Kurdish children who were killed by a fire in the cinema of Amûdê while watching a movie in solidarity with the Algerian struggle for independence on 13 November 1960.
Tuba Yılmaz also expressed her concerns over the health and safety conditions of Abdullah Öcalan, who is being held in aggravated isolation and has not been heard from for 33 months. She stated that the only way to relieve the Kurdish people’s concerns about their leader was to ensure the success of the international campaign “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, A Political Solution to the Kurdish Question” launched by friends of the Kurds in October.
“Leader Öcalan has been subjected to isolation since 2015 and, for the past 33 months, the isolation has continued in a fashion that goes against international law and human rights. The Kurdish people do not accept it anymore. Leader Öcalan is the meaning of our lives. We have no patience left. The ending of the isolation is not enough. Our sole demand is the release and physical freedom of Leader Öcalan. Kurdish women and youth movements will continue their actions at the forefront in the meantime. We will definitively make the campaign successful and ensure the freedom of Leader Öcalan.”
