Lawyers from the “Initiative to Defend Abdullah Öcalan” and “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Initiative” in Syria denounced the conditions of Abdullah Öcalan and reiterated their demand to visit the Kurdish leader in Imrali Island Prison in Turkey.
Lawyers from the “Initiative to Defend Abdullah Öcalan” and “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Initiative” in Syria have taken another step as part of their efforts to meet with Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in incommunicado detention for over two years.
The latest move of the lawyers came after reports that Öcalan received threatening letters from the Turkish state and administration of the Imrali Island Prison where he has been held since his handover to Turkey as a result of an international conspiracy in 1999.
Lawyers from the two initiatives made press statements in Qamishlo and Kobanê denouncing the torture system in Imrali and the aggravated isolation imposed on Öcalan.
The press statement in Qamishlo was made in front of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The statement noted that the torture system implemented in Imrali since 1999 violated all legal rights, saying, “Isolation has been aggravated in recent years and Öcalan has been denied the right to meet with his family and lawyers, since 2021 and 2019, respectively. Besides, no information is provided about his health. The Turkish state tramples on its own laws and international law, implementing isolation as a form of psychological violence.”
The initiative pointed out that the letters of threat and the disciplinary penalties given to Öcalan prove that his life is in danger and the Turkish state imposes annihilation. "On the hundredth anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, it targets the Kurdish cause in the person of Öcalan.”
Criticizing the silence of the CPT (Committee for the Prevention of Torture) and international institutions in the face of the isolation of Öcalan, the initiative strongly condemned the inhumane and unlawful practices of the Turkish state.
Expressing their concerns about the situation of Öcalan, the initiative reiterated their demand to meet with Öcalan, vowing to continue their struggle for his freedom and calling on the international community to put pressure on the Turkish state to stop the isolation of the Kurdish leader.
Following the press statement, lawyers submitted to the UN Office a dossier containing their demand to go to Imrali and providing information about the conditions of the Kurdish leader.
The two initiatives made the same statement to the press at the Martyr Egid Square in Kobanê and expressed their concerns and demands.
