Over 40 unions, parties, experts have today demanded action for the security and well-being of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in a press briefing in front of the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday.

The press briefing highlighted the completely inadequate response by European governments, European Union (EU) human rights organisations, and the Council of Europe, and pointed out that their failure to act makes them complicit in this infringement and abuse of basic human rights.

The covenants of the press conference expressed their concerns that the institution in the Council of Europe that is responsible for monitoring the conditions of Öcalan’s incarceration, the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), is not providing the public with sufficient information. Öcalan’s family, his lawyers, and the Kurdish people are requesting that action is taken to address this appalling situation.

The press statement released by the international campaign includes the following:

“In February 1999, Kurdish political leader Mr. Abdullah Ocalan was abducted from Kenya by Turkish security forces. He was on his way to South Africa, where President Nelson Mandela had granted him political asylum.

Since then, Mr. Ocalan has been held in a maximum-security prison on Imrali Island. For many years, he was the sole prisoner there. Today, there are three others.

Mr. Ocalan has effectively been held in total isolation for the majority of his time in prison. He is regularly denied contact with his relatives and legal team for months or even years at a time, in violation of applicable domestic and international law. The only exception to this policy was the period between 2013 and 2015, during which the Turkish state engaged in negotiations with the Kurdish political movement to find a political solution to Turkey’s decades-old Kurdish conflict.

As of today, it has been 28 months since Mr. Ocalan’s last contact with the outside world—a brief phone call in March 2021. The last time his relatives were allowed to visit him was in March 2020, and the last time his lawyers were able to visit was in August 2019. His last in-person meeting with one of the other three prisoners on Imrali took place in March 2020.

On July 8, 2023, it was reported that Mr. Ocalan had received threatening anonymous letters via the Imrali prison administration. These letters allegedly included death threats. We are even more concerned for his security and well-being following these extremely serious allegations.

On July 18, 2023, it was reported that a new “disciplinary sanction” was imposed on Mr. Ocalan and the other prisoners in Imrali. So-called “disciplinary sanctions” are not based on any applicable Turkish or European legal framework. These are politicized measures intended to prolong the policy of isolation. For example, one such disciplinary sanction was reportedly imposed because Mr. Ocalan had spoken too loudly with other prisoners.

These facts suggest that the Government of Turkey may be in violation of multiple key international legal frameworks. The United Nations ‘Mandela Rules’ include the following criteria concerning the definition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishments. We are extremely concerned that these rules are being violated.

Rule 43

1. In no circumstances may restrictions or disciplinary sanctions amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The following practices, in particular, shall be prohibited:

(a) Indefinite solitary confinement;

(b) Prolonged solitary confinement;

(c) Placement of a prisoner in a dark or constantly lit cell;

(d) Corporal punishment or the reduction of a prisoner’s diet or drinking water;

(e) Collective punishment.

2. Instruments of restraint shall never be applied as a sanction for disciplinary offences.

3. Disciplinary sanctions or restrictive measures shall not include the prohibition of family contact. The means of family contact may only be restricted for a limited time period and as strictly required for the maintenance of security and order.

Rule 44

For the purpose of these rules, solitary confinement shall refer to the confinement of prisoners for 22 hours or more a day without meaningful human contact. Prolonged solitary confinement shall refer to solitary confinement for a time period in excess of 15 consecutive days.

We are also concerned about the position of the Council of Europe and in particular its Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). The CPT has issued more than 30 reports on prison conditions in Imrali. These reports have consistently criticized Turkey's failure to meet binding domestic international legal standards and called on Turkish authorities to improve prison conditions. We support these recommendations and reiterate the call for their immediate implementation.

However, the CPT can and must do more to fulfill its mission in this context. The most recent CPT delegation visited Imrali prison in September 2022. The CPT published its General Report on the visit in March 2023.

We are concerned about the reliability of the information contained in this report. The CPT claimed to have met with Mr. Ocalan. However, the Turkish Minister of Justice claimed that Mr. Ocalan refused the visit. Therefore, we are requesting concrete information from the CPT as to the specific nature and details of the visit.

The aforementioned legal and institutional failures do not only concern the rights of one individual. The isolation of Mr. Ocalan negatively impacts efforts to peacefully resolve Turkey’s Kurdish conflict—one of the longest-running and deadliest conflicts in the modern Middle East. It therefore impacts stability, security and human rights on a regional scale. In this context, we urge the immediate adoption of the following policy recommendations.

Policy Recommendations

To the Government of Turkey:

Implement, without delay, the previous recommendations of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the European Court of Human Rights (Ocalan No 2) regarding prison conditions in Imrali; including those regarding

- the right of prisoners to associate;

- the right of prisoners to meet with lawyers and family;

- effective legal remedies to challenge prison conditions; and

- the abolishment of the aggravated life sentence, which contravenes Article 3 of ECHR.

To the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe:

Discuss the Government of Turkey’s persistent refusal to comply with the CPT's recommendations; and

Outline prospective next steps to hold the Government of Turkey accountable.

To the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT):

Provide concrete information on the Committee’s last visit to Imrali, including a) specific clarification as to whether its reported meeting with Ocalan took place and b) the details of this meeting.

To all relevant domestic and international political actors:

Work towards Ocalan’s release under conditions that allow him to play a role in negotiations to find a lasting, just, and democratic political solution to the Kurdish question in Turkey.”