IZMIR - Doctor Zeki Gül stated that independent delegations must go to Imralı to examine the health conditions of PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is held in absolute isolation.

 

PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan has been held absolute isolation conditions in Imralı High Security Type F Closed Prison for approximately 25 years. All meeting applications for Abdullah Ocalan, who has not been heard from for nearly 3 years, are rejected. We talked with Doctor Zeki Gül about the conditions of Imralı Island and the effects of isolation on individual and public health.

 

RIGHT TO HEALTH IN IMRALI

 

Gül, who has been a member of human rights institutions, the governor's office, and independent prison monitoring committees for nearly 30 years and has observed rights violations in many prisons on site, emphasized that "captivity is a double isolation" for someone held in Imralı Island conditions.

 

Gül stated that even if the visit is not prevented due to the nature of the island environment, transportation is not easy and access to healthcare is disadvantageous, and that there is no hospital campus on the island. Gül said: "Everyone has the right to equal access to health. It is also a violation of the right to health of the person under isolation not to consult the doctors of their own choosing. It is a miracle to stay well socially, politically, physically and spiritually on that island, in that isolation."

 

'IT IS NOT MEDICALLY CORRECT FOR OCALAN TO BE HELD IN PRISON'

 

Pointing out that isolation have psychological effects, Gül said: "During the pandemic, everyone started using vitamin D. (Vitamin deficiency due to not being able to benefit from sufficient sunlight) Because everyone stayed at home during that period. In other words, we learned what isolation is during the pandemic by experiencing it. In a small cell in prison, in a colorless cell. Staying in an environment is not the same as staying in our homes on the basis of consent. Still, we have all experienced the effects of isolation on people. For this reason, it is not medically correct to keep 75-year-old Abdullah Ocalan, who has been in absolute isolation for 25 years, in prison."

 

ISOLATION IN INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTS

 

Noting that the isolation resulting from all these is torture and ill-treatment, Gül reminded that this is also included in international documents. Referring to the United Nations (UN) Mandella Rules and the UN's Istanbul Protocol on the prevention of torture and ill-treatment, Gül said: "The Mandella Rules consider isolation for more than 2 weeks in the context of torture and ill-treatment. They reject it as a method of punishment. Again, the EU Council accepts this. For this reason, there are many texts prohibiting isolation. When we look at it from a medical point of view, if isolation in a cell is added to imprisonment, especially for those over 70 years of age, it is against human health. This is unacceptable for any person.”

 

'INDEPENDENT DELEGATIONS MUST GO'

 

Pointing out that the professional autonomy of official physicians is damaged in an environment of private isolation, Gül continued as follows: "Independent delegations must go to those who are in isolation. In other words, the delegation must be independent of the authority. There are international agreements to which Turkey is a signatory. According to international agreements, 'If a person is not allowed to visit or reach, all claims therein are accepted as true.' In other words, every claim and every question mark must be accepted as true. Because the truth is prevented from being revealed. Closing a place to visitors, preventing access to health or other areas is hiding other things. That's why independent international or national delegations need to see it."

 

'TARGET SOCIETY IN ISOLATION'

 

Stating that the pain and suffering of a person is the result of torture and ill-treatment, Gül emphasized that the main target is the society. Gül said: "Torture is to put society at its limits. Yes, the person suffers, but they want to give a message to society. This is the equivalent of torture and ill-treatment, both internationally, in the World Health Organization and in the human rights organization. They want to bring society into line by isolation. But especially those with a social base the negative conditions of individuals in prison also produce unhealthy conditions for the rest of the society. The reflection of such a state of isolation on society is not the state of goodness of the social and political state, but the state of evil. In a society where there is a state of social and political evil, no individual can be healthy, because health is not an individual title. None of us cannot be healthy on our own. Imagine, there are 300 thousand prisoners. If 5 people wonder and worry about each of them, it means that one million people in this country are under constant stress. This situation is a state of social evil that produces unhealthy. Therefore, isolation must be thrown into the dustbin of human history."

 

'WE MUST DEFEND PEACE FOR A HEALTHY SOCIETY'

 

Stating that it is necessary to defend peace for a healthy society, Gül said: "The main topic and field of struggle that will eliminate isolation is peace. It is necessary to raise the voice about peace, increase it, and weave the process in a participatory and institutional way. Peace is the opposite of every oppression, it is the basic antidote. It is a permanent one. Positive peace solves many things." 

 

MA / Semra Turan