A five-day sit-in expected to draw at least three thousand participants is due in Strasbourg, France, next week in front of the building of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), kicking off on 15 April. Demonstrators demand an end to the prolonged and absolute isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held incommunicado for 36 months, and to ensure his release from Turkey’s Imrali Island Prison.
The sit-in is part of the ‘Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, a solution to the Kurdish problem’ campaign, which was launched on 10 October by the Congress of Democratic Societies of Kurdistan in Europe (KCDK-E), democratic institutions in Europe, internationalist groups, and world-renowned names. The first stage of the campaign consisted of long marches in Kurdish regions including Turkey, and several European countries, with a mass postcard campaign and book-reading events.
The second stage of the campaign started on 1 March, with mass actions and events such as International Women’s Day on 8 March and Newroz (Kurdish New Year) on 21 March dedicated to ending Turkey’s practice of isolation and securing the release of Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), to enable his participation in renewed peace talks.
KCDK-E’s Zümrüt spotlighted the road map for the coming period. She said: “Actions and activities aimed at breaking the worsening isolation will continue uninterrupted. We did not set a time frame when starting the move. Our actions and activities will continue until Abdullah Öcalan is liberated and the isolation policies end.”
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as the committee is officially called, has drawn criticism for negating to follow through on the committee’s mandate and protect prisoners. Despite several visits by the CPT to Turkey, Imrali prison island, where Öcalan is being held, has not routinely been inspected, even though the basic rights of the four prisoners on the island are known to have been violated for years. Complete isolation is considered to be a form of torture, according to experts.
CPT last visited Imrali island prison in 2022. The committee were prevented from publishing the findings of their inspection by the country in question, Turkey, until they broke their silence on 4 April this year. Öcalan’s lawyers have urged the CPT to be more strategic and forceful in pushing Turkey to adopt the committee’s recommendations.
