The health conditions on the prison island of İmralı are unacceptable, and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan who is detained there must be immediately released, a new report by doctors has stated. The report was prepared by Dersim Dağdeviren, working on behalf of the Doctors Working Group of the civil society group Kurd-Akad.
Dr Dağdeviren, who is also a board member of the EU Civic Commission on Turkey, concluded: “In addition to the climatic conditions, the political circumstances pose a considerable health risk. The right to health integrity in all areas relating to health does not exist. There is also no adequate access to medical care.”
February 2024 saw events held across the world to draw attention to the continued detention of Öcalan, often known as the ‘Mandela of the Middle East’, who has now been held in prison for 25 years since his capture in 1999, with much of that period spent in total isolation and conditions amounting to torture widely criticised by international monitors and observers.
While the legal and political aspects of Öcalan’s detention have often been raised by politicians, Kurdish community figures and other organisations, the health risks of detention in near-total isolation have seldom been discussed, according to the new report. For example, the report draws attention to high climatic humidity as imperilling the health of a man now aged 76, who has spent a quarter of a century in detention.
Moreover, “the conditions on the prison island allow only few measures to minimise health risks caused by the climate”, amid a general lack of access to healthcare, check-ups, and medical facilities. High climatic humidity can cause negative health effects with regard to eyes, skin, respiration, sleep and stress, creating a range of health issues including increased risk of sickness and respiratory infections.
It is likely that these conditions are precipitating health conditions already faced by the PKK leader. The report cites evidence from infrequent visits to the offshore detention centre by outside monitors, documenting a wide range of negative symptoms and conditions. “From 2000 onward, there have always been complaints regarding the respiratory tract. These include a chronic, presumably allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis with viscous secretion in the throat and consecutive burning sensation as well as shortness of breath on waking at night. Increasing burning of the eyes with secretion is also regularly mentioned as a problem.” Further problems are documented including allergies, swellings, tinnitus, haematoma-like spots, the loss of 10kg in 10 days, and potential prostate symptoms.
“The doctors say, particularly with regard to respiratory tract-related complaints, that they consider both the humid air and the conditions in which I was not getting enough air to be unfavorable to definitive and successful treatment,” Öcalan is quoted as reporting.
Due to the island’s offshore location, and the “political mechanisms” which have kept the PKK leader in total isolation for over three years, access to health services is inadequate, as documented by prior visits from the European Council’s Committee to Prevent Torture (CPT). “Öcalan was born in 1949, and appropriate monitoring and preventive examinations are of enormous importance,” the report notes.
Given these factors, and the already widely-documented risks of long-term or permanent total isolation from outside visitors, family members, lawyers and other prisoners as experienced by the detainee, there is a high risk of both physical health conditions developing into more serious or untreatable conditions, and of mental health conditions which could result in suicidal tendencies.
As such, the report ends with a series of proposals, including an international health delegation to İmralı, a new position from the CPT regarding Öcalan’s health, and subsequent conclusions from the Council of Europe.
