İSTANBUL - Lawyer Eylem Arzu Kayaoğlu pointed out that the legal path to meeting with Abdullah Öcalan should be opened in order to end the clash environment and emphasized that this is the demand of the democratic public opinion.

 

Asrın Law Office applied to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) on September 9, after not hearing from PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and Hamili Yıldırım, Ömer Hayri Konar and Veysi Aktaş, who were held in Imralı Island, for 18 months. In the application, Asrın Law Office informed the CPT about the developments between April 2022 and August 2022, pointing out that the "incommunicado" conditions, which means absolute lack of communication, and which carry the risk of all kinds of violations, continued, and that the prohibition of torture was systematically violated in Imrali Island. 

 

The lawyers emphasized that not allowing Abdullah Öcalan to meet with his lawyers, family and guardian is also against the prohibition of torture. In the application, which reminded of the request submitted on June 19 by 775 lawyers from 29 Bar Associations to urgently visit Öcalan, it was stated that no response was given to the application.

 

Lawyer Eylem Arzu Kayaoğlu, a member of the Lawyers' Association for Freedom (ÖHD) and a member of the Law and Human Rights Commission of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), evaluated the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan and other detainees and their application.

 

'THEY ARE COVERING UP THE DISCIPLINARY PUNISHMENTS'

 

Reminding that the last contact with Abdullah Öcalan was the interrupted phone call that took place in April 2021, Kayaoğlu stated that no contact has taken place since then and the harsh isolation conditions continue uninterruptedly. Kayaoğlu stated that lawyers regularly apply to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and İmralı Criminal Execution Judge every week in order to visit Abdullah Öcalan and other detainees, but these applications were rejected on the grounds of "disciplinary" penalties, adding, "The reason for the rejection decisions are learned as a result of our objections. The finalisation and implementation of these disciplinary punishments are kept hidden from their lawyers and covered up."

 

'CPT IS SILENCE DESPITE APPLICATIONS'

 

Noting that the applications made to the CPT were also left unanswered, Kayaoğlu said, “The duty of the CPT is to ensure international control in prisons and to issue a report and make recommendations to the member states when it sees violations of rights. The CPT is important because it has an international character, but is not a legal judicial mechanism that will render a decision on a direct violation of rights, like the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), local court or Constitutional Court. And it has a very important place for the countries of the Council of Europe. In our opinion, in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) the CPT must fulfill all its duties and obligations to remedy the human rights violations of any country, not just Turkey.”

 

'THE ONLY PLACE WHICH BANS LAWYERS VISITS'

 

Stating that the only place where a 6-month ban on lawyers is implemented is the İmralı Prison, Kayaoğlu said the following regarding the applications made against it: “We no longer know the number of applications made to the Constitutional Court as a result of the applications being left unanswered and the objections rejected. The Constitutional Court has not put any application on its agenda to date. It rejected the request for injunction on unfounded grounds. Since 2015, for about 7 years, the Constitutional Court has not included any application made against Mr. Öcalan and other detainees on its agenda. Meanwhile, since the Constitutional Court no longer fulfills this duty, an application is made to the ECtHR. Because the Constitutional Court has ceased to be an effective domestic remedy.”

 

'THIS IS THE DEMAND OF THE KURDISH PEOPLE'

 

Kayaoğlu stated that the CPT could visit İmralı Island without informing the government, as in previous years, and called for the urgent fulfillment of this request as the signatory lawyers. Underlining that path to meet with Abdullah Öcalan should be opened, Kayaoğlu said, “Turkey is going through an environment of chaos and conflict. In order to end this clash environment, it is necessary to open the path for Mr. Abdullah Öcalan to meet with his lawyer, family and guardian. This is not just a demand of the Asrın Law Office, it is the demand of the Kurdish people. It is the demand of the democratic public opinion in Turkey."

 

MA / Esra Solin Dal