Legal, Political efforts for leader Abdullah Ocalan in 2024

 For 26 years, human rights organizations, particularly lawyers and legal associations, have been actively opposing the regime of torture and isolation imposed on leader Ocalan in Imrali Prison. Despite continuous appeals by lawyers and legal organizations from Kurdistan, Turkey, and other nations to Turkish authorities and international institutions, the Turkish state has intensified the leader isolation and has largely disregarded these appeals. Nevertheless, legal efforts and initiatives persisted throughout 2024. 

Radıye Öztürk, the lawyer from the Asr Law Office, which represents leader Ocalan, provided an overview of the legal actions taken in 2024:

 January 2024: A total of 1,330 lawyers affiliated with Turkish bar associations submitted a request to the Turkish Ministry of Justice seeking a meeting with leader Ocalan and his fellow detainees Hamili Yıldırım, Ömer Hayri Konar, and Veysi Aktaş in İmralı Prison. These lawyers also petitioned their respective bar associations to take necessary measures against restrictions on their professional activities.

 March 2024: Eight bar associations (Êlih, Amed, Gever, Mêrdîn, Muş, Şirnex, Reha, and Wan) and six civil society organizations—including the Civil Society in the Penal System (CISST), the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (OHD), the Foundation for Social and Legal Research (TOHAV), and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV)—formally urged the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to conduct a visit to İmralı Island.

 July 2024: The Paris Bar Association sent an official letter to the Turkish Ministry of Justice regarding the isolation conditions imposed on the leader and the three other political detainees in Imrali.

 July 2024: OHD, TOHAV, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) submitted reports on the extreme isolation conditions in Imrali Prison to the United Nations Committee Against Torture.

 July 2024: OHD, İHD, TİHV, TOHAV, CISST, and other legal groups submitted a formal memorandum to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe under Article 9.2 of its regulations, addressing the issue within the framework of the "right to hope."

 September 2024: A total of 1,500 lawyers from over 30 European countries petitioned the Turkish Ministry of Justice to grant a meeting with the leader and the other political detainees in Imrali.

 September 2024: A total of 756 lawyers from African and Middle Eastern countries submitted a similar request to the Turkish Ministry of Justice for access to the leader and his fellow prisoners.

 October 2024: More than 300 lawyers, including presidents and directors of Turkish bar associations, formally lodged objections and called on the Constitutional Court to address individual petitions concerning the conditions in İmralı Prison and fulfill its legal responsibilities.

 December 2024: An international delegation comprising lawyers, journalists, and politicians from various countries visited the Turkish Ministry of Justice to demand a meeting with leader Ocalan and the other three detainees.

a.k

ANHA