Kurdish women from Dortmund, Germany, sent 450 letters to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) on Friday, demanding action on the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader currently imprisoned in Turkey.
The move is part of a broader campaign named “Letters to CPT”, initiated by the Rozerîn Women’s Council and the Union of Kurdish Women in Germany (YJK-E).
The letters condemned the ongoing solitary confinement of Öcalan in Turkey’s İmralı prison and called on the CPT to fulfil its obligations by addressing these severe conditions. The campaign, which is gaining momentum across Germany, highlights the urgent need for intervention in Öcalan’s treatment, who has had no contact with the outside world for over three years.
Communication restrictions on Öcalan include bans on phone, fax and mail, as well as a refusal of visits from family, guardians and lawyers. The last known phone contact with Öcalan was a disrupted call on 25 March 2021, and since then, 238 applications from lawyers and 79 from family members or guardians have received no response.
In their letters, the Kurdish women detailed the systematic denial of rights to Öcalan, emphasising that “Only 366 of the approximately 2,300 requests for meetings made by his lawyers and family for Kurdish People’s Leader Mr. Abdullah Öcalan since 1999 have been granted.” They expressed deep concerns about the ‘genocide system’ developed over 25 years of his imprisonment, intensifying with recent unconfirmed reports of an earthquake affecting İmralı Island in December 2023.
The women implored the CPT to intervene, underscoring the urgent need for international bodies to uphold their responsibility towards ensuring the respect of human rights standards. They voiced their frustration over the lack of transparency and accountability from international bodies, directly questioning the CPT’s commitment to its mandate. “We find it difficult to understand why you do not use your authority to make a public statement in the event of non-compliance with recommendations,” the letter stated.
