Sixty-one French public personalities have written a letter to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), urging the committee to revisit İmralı to check on the welfare of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) co-founder Abdullah Öcalan. Senators, parliamentarians, trade unionists, writers, journalists, academics, lawyers and heads of political parties were among those who signed.
Öcalan has been held on the Turkish prison island of İmralı for over 25 years. For the past 38 months he has been held completely incommunicado, after receiving a ban on legal visits from the prison authorities.
The CPT has previously visited İmralı, but has failed to release a recent report on prison conditions and the welfare of Öcalan. The organisation requires the permission of the state in question to release inspection reports, which the Turkish government has not granted.
“Abdullah Öcalan, recognised by millions of Kurds as their legitimate political representative, has been held in extreme isolation by the Turkish state for 36 months in prison on the island of İmralı. This inhumane and illegal isolation amounts to a de facto disappearance of Mr Öcalan as he is deprived of all contact with the outside world, including his lawyers and immediate family. This situation is a clear form of torture,” the ‘Platform for Abdullah Öcalan’ said in their letter.
The letter focuses on concerns about the imprisoned PKK leader’s health: “Mr Öcalan, 75 years old, has been subjected to continuous psychological torture in solitary confinement for 25 years. However, no information on his health has been communicated for the last three years, causing justifiable concern. Today, we cannot even confirm his place of detention, raising serious concerns about his physical condition, a highly sensitive issue for Kurds who see him as the voice of their nation.”
“For these compelling reasons, we urge the CPT to take immediate action. As a Committee, you have the legal right to visit all places of detention in States Parties to the Convention, including Turkey. This gives you the authority and the possibility to send a team of experts to İmralı, where the Turkish Government is obliged to grant you unrestricted access to visit Mr Öcalan and meet him in private,” the signatories said.
The authors of the open letter hope that the CPT will act in accordance with Article 3 of the Statute of the Council of Europe (CoE), which stipulates that “Each member of the Council of Europe shall recognise the principles of the rule of law and the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by everyone within its jurisdiction.” As a citizen of Turkey, Öcalan is eligible for these rights, guaranteed by Turkey’s membership of the CoE.
“All we sincerely ask is that you fulfil your responsibilities by immediately sending a delegation to İmralı to meet Mr Öcalan and check on his state of health. We would then be grateful if you would urge Turkey to allow visits by his family and lawyers in full compliance with the obligations of the Council of Europe and the CPT. This would help to resolve a human rights emergency and address the concerns of millions of Kurds, while renewing the spirit of reconciliation needed to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem in Turkey,” the letter concluded.
Earlier this week, 23 Austrian figures also penned a similar letter to the CPT, urging it to visit Öcalan. They highlighted severe human rights violations on İmralı and called for immediate CPT intervention to address Öcalan’s wellbeing and promote peace talks.
Similarly, in May, influential figures and institutions from Italy wrote to the CPT, saying the organisation must fulfil its responsibilities to uphold ‘human rights and fundamental freedoms’ with regards to Öcalan’s case.
In April, more than 60 prominent thinkers, academics, leftists and political party members from the UK and elsewhere demanded that the CPT visit Öcalan. They argued that Turkey wanted to transform İmralı into a “floating prison”.
