ANKARA - HDP Van MP Muazzez Orhan brought the heavy isolation against PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan to the Parliament and asked the reason for the rejection of the meeting applications.

 

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Van MP Muazzez Orhan asked Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu about the situation of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been in heavy isolation in İmralı for 24 years.

 

In the parliamentary question, in which it was stated that PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in prison for nearly 23 years and that he has been in a severe isolation for almost 10 years, Öcalan was never allowed to meet with his lawyers from 2011 to 2019, and that he had 5 meetings with his lawyers until the Istanbul local elections in 2019, and that these meetings were not held. It was recorded that it was cut off arbitrarily again.

 

In the proposal, it was revealed by the reports of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) that “a similar violation of rights was experienced regarding other prisoners held in Imrali Prison, and their right to visit, sports and outdoor exercises was violated, and it was stated that the isolation continues. On the other hand, it has been repeatedly reflected to the public that the aggravated life imprisonment practice in Turkey is a system of violation of fundamental rights, and that these practices are aggravated by the isolation.

 

AKBK AND ECtHR DECISIONS WERE REMEMBERED

 

Reminding that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has sentenced Turkey four times to date for aggravated life imprisonment, the motion said: “The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has made public that it has requested information until September 2022 about the steps taken by Turkey regarding the ECtHR's 'right to hope' decision for Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, who has been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment.”

 

The following questions were asked by Orhan to Bozdağ and Çavuşoğlu:

 

“*Do you think that the obstacle to the democratic and peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue is the aggravated isolation in Imrali Prison?

 

*Will you initiate any investigation regarding the violation of the Constitution and international law of the isolation practice in Imrali Prison? Will you initiate a study to end the unlawful isolation in question?

 

*When was the last meeting of Öcalan with his lawyers and family? What are the legal grounds for refusal to meet Öcalan's lawyers and family members?

 

*Are you aware that not allowing Öcalan to meet with his lawyers and family members violates Article 17 of the Constitution and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights? Will you comply with the law in order to eliminate this violation?

 

*Will you initiate an initiative to complete the execution process of aggravated life imprisonment convicts in prisons within the law and to prevent violations of rights?

 

*If Turkey is a state of law, will you initiate an initiative to end the unlawful isolation in prisons?

 

*As of 2022, how many countries in the world apply aggravated life sentences and the number of people who are executed in these countries?

 

*How many convicts are sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment in Turkey? How many of these people have been executed for 20 years or more? How many of these people have old age, disability, chronic illness?

 

*What is the regional distribution of people convicted of aggravated life imprisonment in Turkey according to their place of birth? Do you have an official study that the said punishment is mostly applied to Kurdish citizens?

 

*What information has been sent within the scope of the information requested from Turkey until September 2022 regarding the 'right to hope' decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)?

 

*How many times did the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment (CPT) of the Council of Europe (EC) visit Imrali Prison between 1999-2022? What rights were violated within the scope of the visit reports? What were Turkey's responses to allegations of violations?"