URFA- IHD Urfa Branch Co-chair Attorney Mustafa Vefa said: "The CPT should take steps towards sanctions, not show visits."

 

PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held under heavy isolation in İmralı Type F High Security Prison, has not been allowed to meet with his family, guardians and lawyers for 19 months. Öcalan was able to make intermittent phone calls with his brother Mehmet Öcalan on March 25, 2021. Since that day, there has been no news from Öcalan. While the Bursa Execution Judgeship cites "disciplinary punishment" as the reason for the blocking of applications, the reactions against the absolute isolation continue. Human Rights Association (İHD) Urfa Branch Co-chair lawyer Mustafa Vefa said: "They want Kurds to kneel down in isolation."

 

THE PURPOSE OF ISOLATION

 

Stating that as an association, they have identified the problems in prisons and that the biggest problem they face is isolation, Vefa said: "Isolation continues in İmralı and other prisons. We described the isolation as a 'crime against humanity' and 'a behavior against human dignity'. When the Turkish state isolates Öcalan, They want Kurds to kneel down.  Isolation is the way to cut off the communication of a person, who is a social creature, with the outside world and people in prison. The Turkish state intends to break the Kurds' will and put them in a new prison within the prison."

 

'TURKISH STATE VIOLATES ITS OWN LAW'

 

Pointing out that İmralı has been on the agenda of human rights defenders for a long time, Vefa said: "There is a heavy system for both Öcalan and the other people arrested with him. The foremost of the problems is the lack of response to the applications of his family and their lawyers. Turkey's law on execution is clear. This law on execution should be applied to every prisoner and convict in prisons across Turkey without any discrimination. The political attitude of the prisoners, Regardless of his stance, the sentence he received or his social position, he should benefit from this execution law equally. The opinion of the lawyer is clear in the execution law. How the convict and his lawyer will meet is explained in detail. It is clear in law that family visits, phone calls, how the communication with the outside world should be or how the communication in the prison should be. If the state makes a difference according to the people despite its law, it means that it violates its own law."

 

'SANCTION SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED'

 

Pointing out that there was no result in the agreements against the isolation to which Turkey is a party, Vefa said: "International organisations are making decisions regarding violations but this is not enough. International organisations should come and inspect the Imrali Prison as soon as possible. It is absolutely necessary to check whether an execution regime is maintained in accordance with the national legislation and the conventions to which Turkey is a party. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) needs to take steps towards sanctions, not show visits and related reports. The unlawful acts of the Republic of Turkey should be detected by international mechanisms and a sanction should be implemented accordingly."