In Imralı F Type High Security Closed Prison, under absolute technology, the physical freedom of PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan, with superior quality, and the Kurds' demands for a democratic solution, the annual cyclical exhaustion strike continues for the 99th time in prisons on November 27, 2023. Human Rights Association (IHD) Amed Branch Prison Commission member Ali Ihsan Demirtaş evaluated the absolute isolation and the ongoing hunger strike.

 

'ISOLATION MUST BE ABOLISHED’

 

Sharing that they will continue the protests indefinitely and irreversibly if the prisoners are not met, Demirtaş said: "Turkey has experienced these painfully in the past. In previous studies, hunger strikes were launched in prisons for the cycle of persecution of Abdullah Ocalan and the democratic solution of the Kurdish issue. This action Many people lost their lives during the process. That's why this amendment needs to happen." 

 

Emphasizing that the deadlock of the Kurdish issue is directly related to isolation, Demirtaş said: "The more insistence on deadlock in the Kurdish issue, the more liberalization of isolation increases. This state of isolation continues, especially in the last 36 months, with a complete lack of communication."

Ali İhsan Demirtaş, member of the IHD Prison Commission 

 

Stating that they saw many violations during their inspections in prisons, Demirtaş said that the rooms of the prisoners on hunger strike were changed, they were not given things they need daily such as salt and lemon, and they were threatened by the administration.

 

Demirtaş called on the Ministry of Justice to "abolish the isolation" and said: "In order to prevent further damage to the lives and health of the prisoners, their demands must be met and the isolation must be abolished."

 

'VISIT OF CPT IS MEANINGLESS'

 

Demirtaş, who criticized the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) for not visiting Imralı Island during its visit to Turkey between 13-22 February, said: "CPT had been in Turkey for a while. It announced the prisons it visited when it left Turkey. The prisons it visited were isolated. Prisons where hunger strikes continue due to torture. It is a great shortcoming that it visits the prisons where hunger strikes continue but does not visit Imralı. That is why we think that CPT's visit to Turkey is meaningless.”

 

'DOMESTIC LAW MUST BE IMPLEMENTED’

 

Emphasizing that the isolation is against domestic law and international law, Demirtaş said: "Isolation is already a situation that is against Turkey's own domestic law, the international agreements to which it is a party, and human rights. On this issue, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has a decision on the imprisonment of Abdullah Ocalan in 2022. There is also a decision stating that he must be allowed to meet with his lawyers immediately. This situation, which is against human rights, must be eliminated immediately."

 

Recalling the process that continued between 2013 and 2015, Demirtaş said: "Delegations went to Imralı and a peace process was established. After this peace process was disrupted, a conflictual environment started again in Turkey. In terms of ensuring social peace and solving the Kurdish issue, the organization's negotiations must be held with Ocalan, whom Turkey accepts as leader, and the necessary steps must be taken to solve the Kurdish issue. Because the society is very tired of this conflictual process that has lasted more than 8 years. It has suffered a lot and everyone knows that this is of no use."

 

MA / Mehmet Güleş