PKK leader Öcalan marks three years without communication with outside world

Today marks exactly three years since Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), last communicated with the outside world.

Despite all efforts made by the Asrın Law Office during this time, they stated that they have been unable to establish communication with Öcalan and the three other inmates held in İmralı Prison – Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım, and Veysi Aktaş.

According to the law office, "Under the Mandela Rules, a complete severance of ties with the outside world is not permissible. Under all circumstances, inmates must have minimal communication with the outside world."

"We have no information regarding our clients' fundamental rights, including their right to health, which are safeguarded by both domestic and international law. The unprecedented state of absolute communication blackout throughout this historical period constitutes a severe form of torture.

"As part of this torture regime, the absolute communication blackout, which has no equivalent in legal systems, must be immediately terminated. As a result of our application for precautionary measures to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the Committee issued a measure demanding an end to the applicants' incommunicado detention and immediate and unrestricted access to a lawyer of their choice.

"In September 2022, the Committee called on the Turkish Government to 'end the applicants' incommunicado detention and ensure immediate and unrestricted access to a lawyer of their choosing.' However, the Government once again disregarded domestic and international law, failing to implement the measure and persisting in its policy of absolute communication blackout."

CPT and ECtHR remain silent

The law office also emphasized that the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) did not make any public statements regarding the conditions of the inmates after its visit to the island prison in September 2022.

Furthermore, the law office noted, "The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has refrained from issuing a decision on the critical application regarding the isolation practices at İmralı Prison, despite having it before it for 13 years.

"Undoubtedly, the attitude of both the Government and the Council organs confirms the reality that the practices at İmralı are sustained not by legal decisions but by political decisions taken at the international level."

The Asrın Law Office expressed that ending the isolation imposed on Öcalan would be the greatest step toward rebuilding democracy in Turkey and the Middle East. (AS/VK)