Ocalan 19 years captivity: I was outside the Greek Embassy

[Anthea]

CPT: Are in contact with Turkish authorities for Öcalan

Officials from the Committee for the Prevention of Torture say they are “in active contact with Turkish authorities” for the situation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan but argued that they won’t be announcing the information they have despite that. (very odd)

Hundreds of participants of the sit-in in front of the CPT and the Council of Europe (CoE) with the demand to have Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan visited urgently marched to the CPT and held another sit-in. Simultaneously with the demonstration by the CPT, a committee including European MPs met with officials including Turkey Department Chief Michael Neurauter from the CPT Secretariat.

The committee made up of European Parliament (EP) Socialist Group member British MP Julie Ward, former EP Left Group Chair Francis Wurtz and HDP Council of Europe Representative Faik Yağızay forwarded the demands regarding Öcalan’s situation.

REMINDER THAT THE ONLY INSTITUTION AUTHORIZED FOR A VISIT IS THE CPT

In the meeting, Ward and Wurtz said they were in the committee formed to visit Imrali in February and were not allowed by the Turkish officials to visit Imrali when they arrived in Turkey. The MPs said the situation in Turkey has gotten worse since then, and pointed out that Öcalan was last able to see his family in September 2016.

The committee members also mentioned the social media stories about Öcalan’s safety and health and stressed that they do not know what is happening in Imrali, and even if Öcalan is in Imrali or not. Committee members pointed to the trepidation this caused among the people.

Ward and Wurtz stated that committees, lawyers or his family members are not allowed to visit Öcalan and repeated that the only institution authorized for this is the CPT. MPs also submitted a letter they prepared to the CPT officials.

CPT: “WE ARE IN ACTIVE CONTACT WITH TURKISH AUTHORITIES”

CPT officials said they received the demands regarding Öcalan with the meetings in the last few days and stressed that they are monitoring the situation. Turkey Department Chief Michael Neurauter argued that the founding document of the CPT prevents them from announcing the information they already have at hand, and that they find it unacceptable that Öcalan is not allowed to meet with his family and lawyers.

Neurauter said they are “in active contact with Turkis authorities” for Öcalan’s situation and repeated that they cannot publish any information they reach without Turkey’s consent.

He added that the CPT’s efforts are not limited to visiting prisoners and that they are trying to monitor the issue.

KARTAL: “DEMONSTRATIONS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL ÖCALAN IS MET WITH

Konra-Gel Co-chair Remzi Kartal spoke to the public after the meeting and criticized the CPT’s lack of satisfactory responses.

Kartal stressed that the demands of the people are clear, and that the demonstrations will continue until a committee meets with Öcalan and gives the public concrete proof.

[Anthea]

Öcalan’s lawyers submit report on isolation to the CPT

Öcalan’s lawyers have prepared a report on the isolation and submitted it to the CPT. The report stresses that there has been absolutely no information coming out of the Imrali island for 417 days.

The Asrin Law Office lawyers submitted the file they prepared on the isolation to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).

The Asrin Law Office prepared a report on the appeals they made between July 12 and November 1 for Abdullah Öcalan. Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş included the rejection they have received. The lawyers submitted this report to the CPT and stated that fundamental rights are being violated in Imrali.

“THE TORTURE HAS BECOME PERMANENT”

The report states that the reason behind the 14 month long silence in Imrali is the Bursa Court of Execution No.1’s verdict. The report stressed that the length of bans and unlawful practices have reached a point where their physical and mental effects can’t be ignored and added: “The client’s age and health condition are factors that aggravate the conditions and make them unbearable. Even though there is a responsibility to implement a regime that takes into account the ages and health conditions of clients and other such unique circumstances, it’s quite the opposite: Adverse conditions have turned the systemic torture into a permanent state.”

“A SAFE ENVIRONMENT IS MANDATORY”

The report points out that a serious number of negative news stories have been circulating regarding Öcalan’s life and says: “The appeals of family members and us lawyers, who were already not able to visit and were thus concerned, after these stories came out have been rejected as well, like all other appeals. We believe that indicative news stories like this, which are given ground by the absolute isolation conditions, are not independent from current events in the country and the Middle East. In this sense, it is mandatory that Mr. Öcalan is held in a safer environment than the Imrali Prison.”

“THE APPROACH TOWARDS MR. ÖCALAN IS THE EPICENTER OF THE ISSUE”

The report underlines that the CPT’s suggestions have been violated consistently for years and continued: “Despite all these developments, it is impossible to say that the practice put forth is an effective practice against torture. It is incomprehensible from a law perspective that the Imrali Prison was left out in your committee’s visit to Turkey in 2017 which aimed to ‘paint a portrait’ of democracy and human rights in Turkey. Because any portrait of Turkey regarding human rights and especially the ban on torture is impossible and incomprehensible without putting the Imrali Prison and the approach towards Mr Öcalan to the center.”

REACTIONS AGAINST THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The report also stresses that other clients have also not been allowed any family or lawyer visits since they were transferred to the island prison. The verdict issued by the Bursa Court of Execution No.1 which is used as the excuse to sever all of Öcalan’s ties to the outside world is also mentioned in the report and it was stated that no advances could be made with the appeal to the Constitutional Court (CC) either. “It needs to be said that the CC’s influence over human rights violations constitute a weak supervision in Turkey,” says the report and continues to say that the lawyers have no information on what happened to the letters sent on various dates to Öcalan and the three other arrestees, and the letters their clients sent them.

“MEDICAL FILE NOT GIVEN”

The report states that after the coup attempt on July 15, the lawyers demanded the medical file on Öcalan in the Imrali Prison to inspect whether Öcalan’s right to health was implemented in a legal way and adds: “But since 1999, the medical files of Öcalan haven’t been given to the lawyers due to ‘privacy’, despite him not having been treated in an independent, fully equipped hospital even once since 1999.”

The report also stresses that the lawyers’ requests for appointments with the Ministry of Justice on April 12, 2017 and October 16, 2017 have been left unanswered.

TO THE CPT: “YOU MUST MAKE EVERY APPEAL”

The report includes the following:

“In the Imrali Isolation System that tramples the most fundamental principles of law, no prisoner has any security. The recent events are examples of this, and have given us as families and lawyers further concern. No rules or contracts impose on the clients to be held under these circumstances. It is not possible for an arbitrary regime to be accepted by your esteemed committee. Individuals are protected from torture with far-reaching mechanisms including the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Torture is even considered a crime against humanity under certain circumstances. The risk of practices with such grave implications being implemented or continuing to be implemented against clients in the Imrali Island Prison must be eliminated. It hasn’t been possible to receive a single piece of information from the Imrali island, either directly or indirectly, for 417 days. We do not have the slightest idea on the current conditions of our clients. We request that your committee take all necessary initiatives in case outcomes impossible to compensate emerge for clients.”

[Anthea]

I say beware waving a red flag at a bull

Bülent Ecevit was Prime Minister of Turkey and Ahmet Necdet Sezer was President on

3 August 2002

When Turkey announced it ha abolished the death penalty as part of a raft of reforms aimed at preparing the country for European Union membership

We should ALL bear in mind that the GREAT GOD ERDOGAN is now in control

Erdogan did try using Ocalan to further Turkey's application to the EU but many people realized what was happening

Reminder:

Erdogan needed to subdue the Kurds in order to further Turkey's EU application

The changes EU required were passed via Ocalan purporting to be Ocalan's road map for peace

However, anyone reading the demands of the EU would easily have spotted the similarities

Sadly, Ocalan was used and through him the Kurds were further subjugated without entirely realizing what was happening to them

Ocalan:

Charismatic leader and figurehead of PKK

15 years imprisoned in Syria - several different versions of how well he was treated during his incarceration

Many Kurdish freedom fighters, from both Syria and Turkey, were also imprisoned in Syria at the same time, and many of them died in Syrian prisons

Often other Kurds seem unaware of the THOUSANDS of Kurds from WESTERN KURDISTAN who died fighting for freedom

I emboldened the words WESTERN KURDISTAN because these people were PROUD of being from Western Kurdistan - PROUD of being part of KURDISTAN and they wanted the entire world to know it

There was an enormous pressure on the Syrian government to execute Ocalan but faced with the possibility of thousands of angry Kurds descending on Syria, the Syrian government decided to wash their hands of Ocalan and threw him out - most of the other imprisoned Kurds were not so lucky

There were several half-hearted attempts to relocate Ocalan elsewhere but no other country wanted the responsibility or the wrath of Turkey

Eventually Ocalan was betrayed by his own people and by the time of his arrest he was an extremely confused and very sick man who would have agreed to almost anything

The GREAT GOD ERDOGAN no longer has any need for Ocalan as he is no-longer interested in the EU, he seems to think he is above them and has argued with most of the EU countries

The situation in Turkey is now EXTREMELY DANGEROUS

World pressure is still on Erdogan to make peace with the Kurds, something he totally ignores as he destroys Kurdish land and villages

If something were to happen to Ocalan the Kurds would, finally, turn off their TURKISH TV and fight

This may well be something many people have been hoping for for many years

BUT

Millions of angry Kurds with very limited leadership - the Great God Erdogan would have the excuse he needed to send in the army and bring in even stronger laws and curfews - there would be a bloodbath

HADEP - DEHAP - DTP - HDP

[Anthea]

Kartal: Our people will protest until they receive a response

The demonstration launched for Öcalan in Strasbourg has left 30 days behind. KONGRA-GEL Co-chair Remzi Kartal stated that the protests will continue until Öcalan is heard from.

The sit-in launched on October 23 with a press statement by 63 institutions in front of the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) in Strasbourg for the Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s health and safety has reached its 30th day. Kurds continue with their demonstration despite winter conditions. Today, the protesters formed a human chain in front of the CPT, held a mass rally and repeated their demands.

Some 1000 people participated in the protest where activists carried Öcalan posters, chanted “Bijî Serok Apo” (Long Live Leader Öcalan) and called on European institutions to fulfill their responsibilities.

KONGRA-GEL Co-chair Remzi Kartal, Heci Ehmedî, HDK-E Co-spokesperson Demir Çelik, KCDK-E Co-chair Yüksel Koç, ESP Representative Ziya Ulusoy, former leader of Socialist Refoundation Party Tuncay Yılmaz, Revolutionary Party Europe Representative Faruk Aydın, MLKP, ATİK, Greens-Left Party Europe Representative Mehmet Cengiz, HDP Europe Representative Faik Yağızay, Cizre Co-mayor Leyla İmret, BES Secretary Meryem Çat, musician Ozan Emekçi, Êzidî institutions and CÎK representatives were present in the protest.

In speeches in the rally, participants stated that they will continue to protest until they hear from Öcalan.

“A COMMITTEE SHOULD VISIT IMRALI”

KONGRA-GEL Co-chair Remzi Kartal spoke first and stated that the Kurdish people’s call for the CPT officials still stands and added: “Our people continue to cry out in front of the CoE and the CPT despite the harsh conditions. People from all over Europe flock here. We want to know what conditions President Apo is under. The question whether Rêber Apo is actually alive or not still needs answering. Unfortunately, CPT officials and the CoE administration has failed to provide an answer for our people to date. Today our people are protesting with the same demand in many places throughout the world. What we want from the CPT is that they send an international committee to Imrali and see what the situation is.”

“ÖCALAN IS THE RED LINE FOR KURDS”

Kartal said the demonstration that started on October 23 will continue, and added: “Until we receive a response, until our people are convinced, this protest will continue. This is our democratic right and we are exercising this right. The authorities have a responsibility to respond to us. The life, health and freedom of President Apo is the red line for our people. Everybody should be well aware. Our people have proven this with the protests they have held throughout the years. And today, these protests continue under the lead of women and the youth. This protest we have launched with Kurds, peoples of Turkey and allies has completed 30 days. And it will continue. Because Abdullah Öcalan is the solution for the whole of the Middle East, not just for Kurds. European institutions should know this.”

[Anthea]

250 lawyers take action for Öcalan

Libertarian Lawyers Platform (Özgürlükçü Hukukçular Platformu - ÖHP) held a press conference in the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (İnsan Hakları Derneği - İHD) about the mass appeal they will be submitting to the Bursa Public Prosecutor’s office to meet with Abdullah Öcalan. Lawyers from the ÖHP and from the Asrın Law Office, the Law Office of the Oppressed and the Contemporary Lawyers Platform and İHD Istanbul Branch Chairperson Gülseren Yoleri participated in the conference.

“THE AGGRAVATED ISOLATION AND EXECUTION REGIME”

The conference hall was fitted with a banner that read, “End the Imrali isolation system” and Lawyer Raziye Turgut from the ÖHP read the press statement. Turgut said 250 lawyers are demanding to meet with Öcalan and continued: “The aggravated isolation and execution regime imposed upon Mr. Öcalan and the other 3 Kurdish political prisoners held in Imrali High Security Type F Prison turns stricter and less acceptable every day. As it is known, Mr. Öcalan hasn’t been allowed to meet with his lawyers who would facilitate his monitoring of his legal rights since July 27, 2011.”

Turgut said Abdullah Öcalan has only met with his brother Mehmet Öcalan in 2016 since 2015, which was the most peaceful period in the country, and continued: “Since this meeting on September 11, 2016, there has been no news about him or the 3 other prisoners in the Imrali Island Prison with him, Ömer Hayri Konar, Veysi Aktaş and Hamili Yıldırım. The appeals for a meeting have been rejected on physical grounds like a faulty boat or bad weather until July 21, 2016, after which the appeals have been rejected citing the decree by the Court of Executions.”

“NO LEGAL BASIS”

Turgut said all communication, correspondence and meeting rights have been suspended indefinitely citing the State of Emergency conditions as an excuse.

“But even the State of Emergency decrees cited as a basis do not create grounds for such a total ban,” said Turgut and added: “The articles regulating prisoners’/convicts’ meetings with their lawyers for time and conditions have been determined by Statutory Decrees, but in no law or statutory decree is there an article that would completely remove the right to meet with lawyers or family members. Thus, the current situation is a decree without legal basis being implemented through a de facto or administrative decree, which means a suspension of legality.

Turgut stated that the ban and usurpation of almost all legal rights like right to meet with family members, right to meet with lawyers, right to communication and correspondence and right to a just trial and defense is unacceptable.

“MORE THAN THE SIGNATURES FOR MANDELA”

Lawyer Ercan Kanar said, “Mr. Öcalan is one of the two political prisoners who have faced the harshest isolation in the world.” Kanar stated that the signatures gathered for Öcalan have surpassed those gathered for South African political leader Nelson Mandela and added: “According to the executions act, isolation is a serious crime, and if it is imposed upon a political prisoner it constitutes political lynching. This isolation imposed upon Öcalan is an isolation imposed upon humanity at the same time.”

Kanar stated that the isolation is an attack on the peoples’ hopes for coexistence and demanded an end to the practice.

“ISOLATION MUST BE LIFTED, SOCIETY’S CONCERNS MUST BE ADDRESSED”

İHD Branch Chairperson Gülseren Yoleri stated that isolation is a crime against humanity and added: “He needs to be able to meet with his lawyers. The isolation needs to be lifted for him to exercise the rights he will have as well. Society’s concerns regarding what is happening in the island also need to be addressed. For these reasons, the isolation should be lifted.”

[Anthea]

250 lawyers’ appeal to visit Öcalan rejected

The appeal submitted by 250 lawyers to Bursa Public Prosecutor’s office to meet with Abdullah Öcalan, has been rejected.

250 lawyers from several cities including Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Mersin, Muğla, Hakkari and Mardin have submitted a mass appeal to Bursa Public Prosecutor’s office through Asrın Law Office earlier today in order to meet with Abdullah Öcalan.

The appeal, the 707th one made up to date for a meeting with the Kurdish leader, has been rejected by the Turkish authorities.

The last time Öcalan’s lawyers visited him was on 27 July 2011. Since then, their appeal to visit the Kurdish leader has been rejected on grounds of “weather conditions”, “malfunctioning coaster”, “coaster reparations”, or “state of emergency”.

The lawyers had held a press conference yesterday before submitting the appeal.

[Anthea]

Swiss MP: Red Cross should visit Öcalan

Switzerland National Parliament MP Denis de la Reussille spoke about his concerns for Öcalan’s health in the Switzerland Federal Council. De la Reussille requested that the International Red Cross visit Öcalan.



Greens MP in the Switzerland National Parliament Denis de la Reussille spoke about the aggravated isolation imposed upon Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan and concerns for Öcalan’s health in the Switzerland Federal Council through an inquiry he submitted.

“HELD UNDER STRICT CIRCUMSTANCES”

MP Denis de la Reussille submitted an inquiry to the Federal Council and stated that Öcalan has been held in prison under strict circumstances since 1999 and pointed out the aggravated isolation by saying, “Öcalan hasn’t been allowed to meet with anybody since September 11, 2016.”

Reussille also pointed out Kurdish People’s Leader Öcalan’s pro-peace stance in the solution to the Kurdish issue and requested the Switzerland Federal Council to contact the Turkish government about the conditions Öcalan is held under.

“RED CROSS SHOULD VISIT ÖCALAN”

MP Reussille also pointed out the concerns regarding Öcalan’s health in the inquiry and said, “There have been some news articles on Öcalan’s health. As a founding member of the International Red Cross, the Switzerland Federal Council should contact the Turkish authorities regarding Öcalan’s health. We would like the Federal Council to pressure Turkish officials to allow a committee from the International Red Cross to visit Öcalan.”

[Anthea]

TUC urges Turkey to release Öcalan and all political prisoners

The British Trades Union Congress (TUC), representing over 6 million workers, sent a letter to Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey for London, Abdurrahman Bilgiç regarding the peace process and workers’ right in Turkey.

The letter signed by TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady and Deputy General Secretary Paul Nowak said the following;

“The British Trades Union Congress has passed motions at its last two annual conferences that have expressed their deepest concern at the current human and workers’ rights situation in Turkey.

Those motions called for an immediate end to the unjustified repression and infringements of the most basic democratic norms and fundamental human rights, including the need to guarantee workers’ rights and stop the repression of trade unions in Turkey.

We have also expressly called for the Turkish government to halt its attacks on the Kurdish population and to return to the peace process with the PKK to search for a peaceful and inclusive solution to the Kurdish issue.

Central to the Kurdish Question and the peace process is the position of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdish political movement. He has been calling, for many years, for a peaceful and democratic solution within the existing borders of Turkey and has said that the time for violence is over. He will be entering his 20th year in prison and will be 70 in the next year.

Therefore, in line with the motions passed at our last two conferences in 2016 and 2017, and on this anniversary of his illegal abduction on 15 February 1999, we hereby formally call for the Turkish government to immediately release Mr Öcalan and all other political prisoners being held in Turkey.”

From our own peace process in Northern Ireland and our involvement supporting the Colombian peace process we know how difficult but how important such initial steps can be. In this respect we firmly believe that Mr Öcalan’s release will make a hugely important contribution to the search for peace by enabling this most influential person to play a full and positive role in that process.

We urge the Turkish government to give this matter the most urgent consideration, and would like your Excellency to receive a delegation from the TUC to discuss this matter.”

[Anthea]

On hearing the news of Ocalan's capture, we all rushed into London to Protest outside the Greek embassy

Then our friend Diyari go everyone to sit down in the middle of the road

phpBB [video]

Direct Link:
https://youtu.be/lVM0rpXWauE

phpBB [video]

Direct Link:
https://youtu.be/--2ddocs1BI

[Anthea]

Better late than never:

Thousands gather in Strasbourg for Öcalan and Afrin

Kurdistanis in Europe and their allies have started to gather on the Boulevard de Nancy and Boulevard de Metz along the Central Train Station in Strasbourg, France to protest the February 15 international plot and the Turkish state’s invasion attacks against Afrin.

TENS OF THOUSANDS FLOOD INTO STRASBOURG

Kurdistanis and allies in Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria and various other European countries have been flooding into Strasbourg with buses and private vehicles. Thousands of people who create a colorful scene in the streets of Strasbourg with the PKK, KCK, YPG, YPJ and TJK-E flags and Öcalan posters they carry chant slogans for Öcalan and gather in the square where the march will begin, despite the heavy rain.

SALUTING THE AFRIN RESISTANCE

Kurdistanis and allies gathered under the heavy rain sing anthems and chant “Everywhere Afrin, everywhere resistance”. They dance the halay and salute the Afrin resistance. The crowd is protesting the international plot against Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, and their anger against the Turkish state stands out.

INTENSE SECURITY MEASURES

French police have taken intense security precautions around the gathering spot and have cut off several side roads that lead to the march route with water cannons.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in the area will march to the Rue des Vanneaux rally grounds where a huge rally will be held to protest the February 15 international plot and the Turkish state’s invasion attacks against Afrin.

Seems as though they forgot the date - out of respect they should have protested on 15 February - also the protest would have had much more affect if it had taken place during the working week