Turkey is violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by its imposition of more than 27 months of absolute isolation on Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan in İmrali Island Prison in western Turkey, international lawyers said.
In an interview with Medya Haber TV’s Erem Kansoy, Heike Geisweid, President of the International Association for Human Rights and Democracy (MAF-DAD), and international jurist Prof Bill Bowring emphasised that Öcalan’s position should be of utmost importance to Turkey.
“[Öcalan] is still in isolation, still in a prison island in a stateless or ‘state-free’ situation where he’s captured, and the situation has to be turned down immediately,” said Geisweid. She went on to say that he had to be freed, as he was so important to discussion for change in Turkey. She continued: “Without his voice and without his working on a solution – there’s no way to work on a solution without him”, referring to the Kurdish question.
Prof Bowring, from the European Lawyers’ Association for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH), highlighted Öcalan’s significant influence and argued that it would be even more substantial if he were granted freedom.
Expressing concerns about the conditions of Öcalan’s captivity, Bowring stated, “The conditions under which he’s being held are absolutely a form of torture,” and he further warned that these circumstances could worsen under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s renewed five-year term after his recent re-election.
