​​​​​​​South Africa's Conference: leader Ocalan, other prisoners should be released

The conference "Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan: Peace and Stability in the World", which was held at the Fountains Hotel - St. George Mall - Cape Town, South Africa from February 28 to March 1, 2023, issued its closing statement yesterday (March 1).

The statement read:

Taking into account the opinions expressed during the conference, and with reference to the testimony of Kurdish activists from Syria, and being aware of the issue of banning the PKK and its leaders, especially Mr. Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in pursuit of the just cause of the Kurdish people.

Mr. Abdullah Ocalan was on his way to South Africa to seek political asylum offered by Nelson Mandela in February 1999; When intercepted by certain intelligence agencies in Kenya, February 15, 1999, he was kidnapped, blindfolded, and handed over to the Turkish authorities; He was sentenced to death in an unfair trial before a quasi-military court, but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment, and the European Court of Human Rights later found that his trial in Turkey was unfair.

As Mr. Abdullah Ocalan was not allowed to meet his lawyer and family members for two years and that is violation of international law.

We call on the Turkish government to facilitate the urgent meeting of Mr. Abdullah Ocalan with his lawyer and his family; Because the current detention system in Turkey contravenes the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules).

We realize that the release of Abdullah Ocalan is very important; for the peace process in the Middle East.

Finally, we call on the Turkish government to immediately release Mr. Abdullah Ocalan and other prisoners from prison.

On the issue of peace and justice

We note that the current crisis in the Middle East and the plight of the Kurdish people is the result of the arbitrary partition of Kurdistan by the colonial powers Britain and France in the aftermath of World War I.

We note further, that the South African Foreign Policy White Paper states that “Since 1994, the international community has looked to South Africa to play a leading role in defending the values of human rights, democracy, reconciliation and the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment.

We call on the South African lgovernment, the ruling African National Congress party and all other political and progressive organizations to uphold their commitment to support the cause of the Kurdish people in their struggle for freedom, dignity, democracy and human rights.

We also call on the South African government, the South African Communist Party, the Congress of Trade Unions in South Africa, and all progressive political and social formations to put pressure on the Syrian government to start talks with the Kurdish people.

We urge all solidarity organizations and the South African government to put pressure on the Turkish government to stop its continuous and systematic attacks against the Kurdish areas in NE Syria and northern Iraq.

a.k

ANHA