​​​​​​​Demands for urgent visit to Imrali prison

This came in a joint statement, made by the Syrian Initiative for the Freedom of Leader Abdullah Ocalan and the Lawyers Union in NE Syria, in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) building in the city of Qamishlo. This came during a statement, that reads:

The Turkish state continues to violate international laws and covenants regarding the treatment of Mr. Abdullah Ocalan, who was arrested after he was kidnapped in a major conspiracy more than 24 years ago. The Turkish government has persisted in depriving him of his basic rights (as a kidnapped person, a detainee, or a prisoner), which is guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 in Articles 5, 9, and 19, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted on 7/17/1998 during the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of delegates on the establishment of an international criminal court, which stipulates in  the Article 7 (Crimes against humanity) - Paragraph 1-2 (i): “Enforced disappearance of persons" means the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time.”, as well as the basic principles for the treatment of prisoners and political detainees and other laws and charters that are considered binding by the Turkish state as a signatory. However, Turkiye deliberately violates and ignores it, as it has imposed on Mr. Abdullah Ocalan a complete isolation and prevented him, for more than two years, from contacting and communicating even with his family and lawyers, as visit requests are rejected every time by the Public Prosecutor in Bursa without any acceptable legal justification. It seems that the Turkish state desires to persist in only punishing prisoners of conscience and political prisoners whom their opinions disagree with successive Turkish governments and its undemocratic tendencies and prejudices that in the case of Mr. Ocalan; to deprive him of his right to hope;  by imposing a disciplinary punishment on him unjustly, considering that  the right of hope is included in the laws of the European Court of Human Rights, and according to this right; it is unacceptable for anyone to be imprisoned for life. The Turkish state fears the pressure from the European Union in regard to implementing those human right laws, therefore the Turkish state is trying to block the way to grant Mr. Abdullah Ocalan such rights in the future. The Turkish state disregards the values and the laws ​​of the international community, of the United Nations, and the principles of human rights guarded by your organization.

 We look forward to your esteemed committee carrying out its great duty to protect the rights of Mr. Abdullah Ocalan; who is being held by the Turkish state in difficult and illegal conditions, taking into account, as a political prisoner and a symbol of a nation struggling for liberation and self-determination in accordance with the principles and charters of the United Nations and the Bills of Rights of all humanity, and that Mr. Abdullah Ocalan calls for values of brotherhood between peoples and nations in a democratic and free way; these values ​​and principles clearly do not appeal to the fascist Turkish government that practices injustice and oppression on peoples of Non-Turkish ethnicity inside Turkiye and in its regional surroundings. This is the main reason behind The Turkish government decision to kidnap Mr. Ocalan with a help of an international conspiracy to detain him, then putting him on a show trial, an unfair and illegal trial.

From this standpoint, this matter appeals to your esteemed committee to take immediate action and through legal means; to compel the Turkish government to lift the isolation tactics imposed on Mr. Abdullah Ocalan, and grant him his basic rights stipulated in international covenants and laws.

Sh-S

ANHA