ISTANBUL - Asrın Law Office, which applied to the CPT to end the absolute lack of communication towards PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, stated that they expect an urgent action.

 

PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was brought to Imrali Type F High Security Prison in Turkey on February 15, 1999, with an international conspiracy carried out in partnership with global powers, has been held in severe isolation for 24 years. The Imrali isolation system turned into a state of not being heard after the intermittent phone call of the PKK Leader with his brother Mehmet Öcalan on March 25, 2021.

 

Asrın Law Office, which is the defense attorney of Abdullah Öcalan, and his family's applications for visit are rejected on the grounds of "disciplinary" penalties. On May 9, Asrın Law Office stood up against the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners in İmralı, Ömer Hayri Konar, Veysi Aktaş and Hamili Yıldırım, whose communication rights such as telephone, fax and letter are blocked, as well as the barrier of visit to family and lawyers. He applied to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).

 

THE PRINCIPLE OF CPT WERE NOT APPLIED

 

Stating that the CPT principles are not implemented and the balance and inspection mechanisms are rendered dysfunctional, the lawyers said: “Despite the reports and recommendations of your committee, the state of absolute isolation and incommunicado is not lifted, the conditions are not corrected and the CPT principles are not applied. Therefore, your Committee has vital responsibilities. An urgent action is expected in line with the main objective of ending the current torture conditions and preventing systematic practices. Despite the violations of the prohibition of torture at this intensity and continuity, especially when no reliable information and news can be obtained from the applicants' families and lawyers, it is thought-provoking that your committee did not implement the procedures set out in Article 10/2 of the Convention, which are coercive measures to eliminate inhuman and ill-treatment conditions and incommunicado.”

 

REQUESTS

 

Emphasizing that the practices in Imrali were "unique", the lawyers demanded the CPT to "urgently" release their reports on their last visit. The lawyers made the following demands in the continuation of the application:

 

“* To ensure that lawyer visits are carried out promptly and to ensure their continuity, and to put an end to their obstruction by unlawful court decisions,

 

* Carrying out family and guardian visits and ensuring their continuity, and ending their prevention with unlawful disciplinary punishments,

 

* Ensuring that applicants use their routine telephone rights with their families and relatives in parallel with the establishment of visitation rights,

 

* Ensuring that all obstacles to communication with the outside and with their lawyers by letter, telegraph and fax are eliminated,

 

* Ensuring that the actual or illegal practices related to newspapers, magazines and books are ended,

 

* Taking coercive measures to eliminate torture, inhuman and ill-treatment conditions and incommunicado and Convention 10/2. The operation of the procedures set out in the article is requested immediately.”

 

MA / Mehmet Aslan