In a recent interpellation session in the Swiss National Council, Laurence Fehlmann Rielle, representing the Socialist Group of the Swiss Socialist Party, raised the critical issue of the isolation of Kurdish political prisoners in Turkish prisons, particularly highlighting the condition of Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı Island Prison.
The interpellation, dated 15 March, highlighted the appalling conditions of the imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Öcalan and others and stressed the need for immediate action. Rielle highlighted Öcalan’s significant role in the peace negotiations between the PKK and Turkey from 2011 to 2015 and stressed the importance of his involvement in a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
The document underlined Switzerland’s historic involvement in peace negotiations between the parties to the conflict and stressed the need for the Federal Council to take proactive steps. It drew attention to Öcalan’s abduction in Kenya on 15 February 1999 and his subsequent imprisonment in Imrali prison in north-western Turkey. It also noted the transfer of other prisoners to Imrali Prison in 2015, with no information available on their well-being since 25 March 2021.
Despite efforts by human rights organisations, including a recent visit to Turkish prisons by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), access to Imrali Prison has been denied by the Turkish authorities, underlining the gravity of the situation and the urgent need for international intervention.
The interpellation, co-signed by 11 members of the National Council, posed critical questions to the Federal Council on Switzerland’s measures to investigate Öcalan’s isolation, recognition of prisoner isolation as a form of torture, steps to facilitate meetings between Kurdish prisoners, their families and legal representatives, and commitment to uphold the right to hope.
