ISTANBUL - Non-governmental organizations will discuss their report, including the violations in Imrali, with the UN Committee Against Torture on 16-17-18 July. The committee will then prepare a "Turkey Report" on the violations.

 

The 56th Session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) started on 18 June at the UN Geneva Office. Many human rights violations will be discussed in the sessions that will continue until July 12. The UN Committee Against Torture will discuss the reports of non-governmental organizations at the session to be held on 16-17-18 July. 

 

From Turkey, the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), Society and Legal Research Foundation (TOHAV), Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and The World Organization against Torture (OMCT) are among the non-governmental organizations that submitted a report.

 

A 49-PAGE REPORT PREPARED

 

At least one representative from the non-governmental organizations that submitted reports will attend the sessions where violations in Turkey will be discussed. On the first day of the session, non-governmental organizations will make presentations on their reports. In the following days, the Committee will ask questions to Turkey. The committee will prepare a "Turkey Report" after the discussions in the sessions. The report, which will cover violations and torture crimes in Turkey, is expected to be announced in 2025.

 

4 non-governmental organizations prepared a 49-page report on the sessions. The report included violations in other prisons, especially the Imrali Type F High Security Closed Prison, where PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in absolute isolation and has not been heard from for 40 months. Violations of freedom of thought and expression were also included in the report.

 

VIOLATIONS IN IMRALI PRISON

 

The report included comprehensive information about the deprivation of communication rights and the absolute isolation conditions of Abdullah Öcalan and prisoners Hamili Yıldırım, Veysi Aktaş and Ömer Hayri Konar, who are held in Imrali Prison, not being allowed to meet with their families and lawyers.

 

The report noted that Imrali Island had been declared a military forbidden zone up to a certain distance on land, sea and air, and emphasized that the status, location, management approach, systematic practices and actions of the judiciary of the prison caused serious concerns about discrimination and torture violations.

 

8-YEAR PERMANENT LAWYER BAN

 

In the report, Abdullah Öcalan, Ömer Hayri Konar and Hamili Yıldırım were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment; It was pointed out that Veysi Aktaş was sentenced to life imprisonment. It was emphasized that lawyers were not interviewed. It was stated that shortly after 1999, lawyers' views were violated for reasons such as "the boat broken", "bad weather" and "the captain on leave", and after July 27, 2011, the violation of the ban on seeing lawyers was further aggravated.

 

The report pointed out that Abdullah Öcalan is not allowed to meet with his lawyers for 8 years. It was stated that after the July 15 military uprising, on July 21, 2016, the Bursa Execution Judgeship decided to ban Abdullah Öcalan, Konar, Aktaş and Yıldırım from lawyer visits, family visits, telephone calls, letters and all other communication rights within the scope of the State of Emergency.

 

The report said: “These bans are based on provisions that can never be applied to prisoners. Although these bans began to be implemented in six-month periods in February 2018, they continued uninterruptedly with the decisions of the Imrali Disciplinary Board and have been repeated at least 20 times to date."

 

CONFIDENTIALITY AND ILLEGALITY

 

It was stated that the right to telephone was banned every 6 months by the decisions of the management and the Administration and Observation Board (IGK). The report underlined that all these bans and blockings were carried out confidentiality and against the law, and therefore, access to all information was not provided.

 

The report stated that Öcalan has not been allowed to meet with his lawyers in the last 13 years, except 5 lawyer visits in 2019 after the hunger strike launched in prisons for Abdullah Öcalan. Abdullah Öcalan has only been able to meet with his family 5 times since October 6, 2014; The last family meeting was held on March 3, 2020; It was reported that Öcalan  made only 2 phone calls, on April 27, 2020 and March 25, 2021.

 

3 PRISONERS NEVER MET WITH THEIR LAWYERS

 

Hamili Yıldırım was never allowed to meet with his lawyer; It was stated that Yıldırım made 2 family visits and 2 phone calls on 27 April 2020 and 25 March 2021.

 

Ömer Hayri Konar was never allowed to meet with his lawyer; He had 3 family visits in total; It was pointed out that he was allowed to make a phone call during the Covid-19 pandemic on April 27, 2020.

 

Veysi Aktaş was never allowed to meet with his lawyer; He had 3 family visits in total; It was pointed out that he was allowed to make a phone call during the Covid-19 pandemic on April 27, 2020.

 

'INHUMANE' PUNISHMENTS

 

The report noted that there has been no news from Imrali since March 25, 2021, and emphasized that the ban decisions were "collective" and "inhumane". The report stated that family visits must not be prevented through disciplinary punishments, and that blocking this right without sufficient justification means violating both domestic and international law.

 

CPT'S 2020 REPORT

 

In the report, it was stated that isolation was implemented in Imrali, recalling the report announced by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) in 2020.

 

It was noted that "arbitrary, special and discriminatory" decisions were taken systematically in Imrali. It was underlined that crimes against prisoners were considered a central policy decision, that those responsible abused their duties and were not prosecuted for this.

 

UN PROVISIONS BEING VIOLATED

 

It was pointed out that the violations in Imrali amounted to a violation of the provisions of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was reported that the applications made to the Constitutional Court (AYM) and other judicial powers in this regard were inconclusive.

 

It was stated that the lack of any news from Imrali for 40 months was "conditions that harm their physical, mental and psychological integrity". It was emphasized that Article 7 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits "inhuman or degrading treatment", was violated. It was also noted that Article 10 of the convention states that, "everyone deprived of their liberty has the right to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent value of the human person" violated.

 

CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISORDERS

 

The report stated that although Abdullah Öcalan was 75 years old, he spent the last 25 years in isolation conditions in Imrali, and that Öcalan's chronic respiratory diseases were reflected in the CPT reports.

 

It was noted that Veysi Aktaş is 55 years old, has been deprived of his freedom for more than 30 years, and has not been able to communicate with the outside world for the last 9 years. 

 

It was stated that 70-year-old Hamili Yıldırım and 65-year-old Ömer Hayri Konar have been held in high security prisons for at least 20 years and have not been able to communicate with the outside world in Imrali for the last 9 years.

 

The report reminded that lawyers applied to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) for a communication gap in July 2022, and on September 6, 2022, the UN HRC accepted the lawyers' "precautionary" demand and decided to allow lawyers to meet with their clients without restrictions. 

 

The report included information that the UN HRC has not yet made a final decision on the merits of the application and that the process is still ongoing.

 

MA / Diren Yurtsever