Over 40 unions, parties, and experts will come together to hold an emergency press briefing at 11:30 CET today, Wednesday, in Brussels focusing on the many months the jailed Kurdish political leader has been detained completely incommunicado.
The PKK leader’s absolute incommunicado status is now entering the 29th consecutive month.
The briefing aims to draw international attention to the situation of Öcalan, who has been held in İmralı maximum security prison since 1999.
Öcalan been unable to receive advice from his lawyers since August 2019, and his last opportunity before that was eight years earlier, in 2011.
The punitive measures inflicted on Öcalan, such as indefinite solitary confinement and the prohibition of family contact, could be considered torture, cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment, say human rights activists.
The briefing is anticipated to propose several policy recommendations, urging swift action from various political bodies. These are likely to include calls for the Turkish government to implement previous recommendations regarding Imrali prison conditions and for the Council of Europe to discuss Turkey’s non-compliance with these recommendations.
The press conference can be followed live here.