ISTANBUL - Describing the Imrali system as a "three-legged system", PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan made the assessment of the absolute isolation against him: "The isolation developed against me means the elimination of political and legal options."
It has been 24 years since PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan was brought to Turkey with an international conspiracy on February 15, 1999 and put in İmralı Type F High Security Prison. While the isolation in Imralı Prison, which was designed "specially" for Abdullah Öcalan, has been deepening day by day during the 24-year period, there has been no news from Abdullah Öcalan for the last 28 months. In Imrali Prison, whose establishment was based on the logic of isolation, practices were deepened step by step over time. The isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan has been continuing since March 21, 2021, with absolute lack of communication and inability to receive news.
When Abdullah Öcalan was brought to Imrali on February 15, 1999, the immediate surroundings of the prison were defined as the "Red line". While a thousand soldiers were on fixed duty, 55 cameras were monitored continuously for 24 hours. After Abdullah Öcalan was brought to the island, the authorities were changed. All officials were taken from the Ministry of Justice and transferred to the Mudanya Pier Crisis Liaison Office on behalf of the Prime Ministry Crisis Management Center. The decision was published in the Official Gazette. After the publication of the publication, Imrali Island and its surroundings were declared a "Military forbidden zone" in terms of land, sea and air at the 2nd degree. While civilian ships were not allowed to approach the island more than 3 miles, the passage of civilian helicopters over the island was also prohibited.
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GUANTANAMO
In disregard of Turkish and international laws, all of Abdullah Öcalan's rights have been ignored since the day he was brought to Turkey. While the PKK leader was subjected to various rights violations such as hair-cutting, poisoning, forced room change, deprivation of communication tools, and being denied access to his lawyers and family for 24 years, the isolation and torture on him gradually worsened during this time.
While the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan "privately" has been aggravated day by day, Imrali Prison has been renewed based on the Guantanamo understanding of the United States (USA). Even in Guantanamo, a torture system established by the USA on the basis of "smuggling" against its political opponents, where laws do not penetrate, and based on the principle of breaking the will of its political opponents with all kinds of methods and drawing them to its own line, its practices were not observed in Imrali. Although it is compared to Imrali, communication opportunities such as family, lawyer visit, telephone, letter and fax are created in Guantanamo; however, these rights have been rarely or not recognized at all in Imrali Prison for years.
2,000 70 APPLICATIONS FROM LAWYERS
So much so that 442 of the 2 thousand 70 applications made by Asrın Law Office's lawyers, who acted as the defense attorney of Abdullah Öcalan, were accepted, and 1,628 were either rejected for various reasons or left unanswered. A small number of lawyers' visits were recorded. Abdullah Öcalan, who was held under surveillance with a cell camera system, could not use his right to speak on the phone for 10 minutes, which is given to all prisoners and convicts. On the other hand, articles and pictures about him and Kurdish politics were given to newspapers and magazines in a limited way after they were cut off, and in some periods they could not benefit at all. Unlike the general practices, the right to air ventilation granted to the PKK Leader was limited and remained at the discretion of the prison administration.
PKK Leader Öcalan, in his assessments in the past, has often pointed to the link between the isolation and the deadlock of the Kurdish question. Abdullah Öcalan pointed out that the "special" isolation imposed on him in Imrali Prison "contradicts" the laws enacted to comply with Turkey's European law. Here are some of PKK Leader Öcalan's assessments of the isolation system during his meetings with his lawyers on Imralı Island on different dates:
STATUS OF IMRALI PRISON
Stating that Imrali is governed by a "three-legged" system, Abdullah Öcalan said: "The foot of this is the USA, one foot is Europe and the other is Turkey. İmralı Prison is very different from prisons in Turkey. The status of other prisons is not applied in Imrali. The status and structure of this place have been established by secret agreement. The USA has established many such prisons in many places with similar secret agreements. Imrali Prison is one of the private prisons established by the USA with a secret agreement. While doing this, the idea and approval of the EU were also obtained, and they determined what the structure and conditions of this place should be.”
ÖCALAN'S EVALUATION OF CPT
Abdullah Öcalan, referring to the role of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) in the Imrali isolation system, said: “The CPT should not be approached as ordinary, it should not be seen as a delegation that comes and goes from time to time, they are aware of what is going on here. It is a subordinate body of the European Committee, so the Council of Europe as a whole also has knowledge. They say that this place is managed by the crisis center affiliated to the Prime Ministry, but it is not, this place is directly connected to the USA. From the beginning, I couldn't understand why even the prison regulations were not implemented. But it turned out that Imrali Prison is the first Guantanamo style prison. Here are lessons learned from the implementations made to me. They measure how long a person can withstand being suppressed."
'NO ONE COULD WITHSTAND THE CONDITIONS FOR 6 DAYS'
Stating that no one could withstand the conditions of Imrali Prison, which was specially designed for 6 days, Öcalan said: “I am the prisoner in aggravated isolation in the world, including the West. The capitalist world system has captured me. The state is holding me as a trump card, a hostage. I'm a political hostage here. This is how my position should be known. I can explain this with an analogy: I'm like someone on a ventilator, they can unplug whenever they want. The aggravation of the isolation situation already means execution. There is no one else in the world under these conditions, the only thing left is that I did not die.”
POLITICAL AND LEGAL OPTIONS
Stating that he acted with common sense against the aggravated Imrali isolation system, Öcalan said: “I am not talking about forgiveness or personal salvation. The issue is the salvation of a people, the interest of a people. You have to behave morally. Isolation has been there from the beginning. This limitation has existed from the very beginning. It wasn't right from the start. For the sake of peace, my demeanor has been soft. I didn't have a problem. The most appropriate concept in my situation can be considered as a slogan 'Yes to the last peace in isolation'. The isolation against me is an isolation imposed on the Kurdish people, again on the Turkish people, especially on its democratic forces and those in prison. Political and legal options are being eliminated. The government is responsible for this. It is running away from democracy."
'THE QUESTION WILL NOT WORK WITH ÖCALAN'
Asking that “Am I being dangerous for my desire for peace and a democratic solution?”, the PKK leader Öcalan said:"Actually, I know that some sections are uncomfortable with me and are still afraid of me. They say that the question will not work with Öcalan; however, there is no other way. This is not possible without Öcalan because the people want me. Even if everyone leaves, the people will not leave me. Besides, there is no one who proposes a logical and reasonable way and solution other than the solution I propose. Even if they physically or mentally annihilate me in isolation in one way or another, it is clear that they will not be able to solve this problem in any other way. My ideas have been adopted by our people and my ideas will always exist even if I am not.”
MA / Rukiye Adıgüzel