As of August 7, 2019, Abdullah Öcalan has no longer had contact with his lawyer. His lawyer Ibrahim Bilmez from the Istanbul legal office Asrin spoke about the latest report on Turkey by the Council of Europe in an ANF interview. On 23 October 2020, the Standing Committee on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe confirmed the resolution of the Committee on Compliance with the Commitments and Commitments of the Member States on the repression of the civil and political opposition in Turkey. In addition, requests were made to lift the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and his fellow prisoners on Imrali and to implement all recommendations of the anti-torture committee CPT. The Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) published two reports from 2017 and 2019 in August 2020.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has added a section on isolation on the Imrali prison island to the Turkey report. What does that mean?
This addition is extremely important and proves that Turkey’s lawlessness has now reached a point where it can no longer be ignored. It also shows that the CPT’s reports are being followed and that the discussion is now on the agenda in Europe too.
Is this report binding on Turkey?
Yes, there is a commitment, because Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe and has signed the founding declaration and the human rights convention. The report is therefore binding. Turkey has been monitored for its human rights situation since 2017. The report, published and ratified on October 23, states that there are serious and constant regression on fundamental rights and freedoms. The fact that a specific section of the report refers to the lawlessness of Imrali also shows that isolation is an integral part of the complete removal from the basic principles of a rule of law. Turkey must adhere to the provisions of the resolution, otherwise it can even be excluded from the Council of Europe. That would also have economic and other painful consequences.
Immediately after the publication of the CPT report, your client Abdullah Öcalan was banned from contacting lawyers for six months. In your opinion, is there a connection?
The CPT report contains important findings and proposals for the government to end the isolation. The fact that the enforcement court in Bursa issued such a prohibition order immediately afterwards is, from our point of view, incomprehensible and unjustifiable. Instead of implementing the proposals, the government orders further bans and challenges the CPT, so to speak. This will further accelerate the discussion about Turkey’s position in the European system.
In any case, Öcalan has not been able to communicate with his legal advisor and family members for years. What is the point of this ban on visits anyway?
Presumably, Turkey wants to cover up its lawlessness. From July 27, 2011 until today, only five attorney visits have taken place in 2019. As is well known, these talks were enforced in the prisons by the mass hunger strike initiated by Leyla Güven. Since our last client meeting on August 7, 2019, none of our weekly requests for visits have been granted. No decision on the applications has been made by September 2020, now the ban on lawyers ordered on September 23 is presented to us as the reason for the rejection. Even with this, however, the inhuman isolation cannot be legitimized or legally justified. As I said, European bodies are now also bringing this up.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided in 2014 that the detention of your client Öcalan should be re-examined in 2024. This decision has recently been raised again. How do you rate that?
Right, with this ECtHR ruling it was basically officially stated that the form of execution applied to Imrali falls within the area of the prohibition of ill-treatment and torture. In summary, the verdict states that imprisonment to death without the hope of release is torture. As we have always said, every day in isolation on Imrali is torture. The ECHR underlines that this sentence must be reviewed and limited after a certain period of time. This not only applies to Öcalan, but also to many other cases. Turkey must implement this judgment. It is well known that the Council of Europe is responsible for the implementation of ECHR decisions. In this context, we have been in constant contact with the Council of Europe’s Council of Ministers since 2014. Turkey is persistently postponing the legal regulations resulting from the ECHR judgment. It is nothing new that certain circles make political calculations regarding our client from time to time on the basis of political considerations. Actually, the discussions in these circles on this topic are in a certain way an expression of the fact that, according to universal legal standards, all people are equal before the law and that Mr. Öcalan is no exception. In this respect, the implementation of the ECHR judgment is inevitable. On the other hand, these discussions are far from any ethics, because these circles are trying to criminalize our client’s efforts for a democratic solution and peace, which have been going on for 21 years. However, these attempts are in vain. Mr Öcalan’s efforts for peace have penetrated society as a whole in Turkey. Sooner or later the legal requirements will be met and an atmosphere of democracy and peace will finally return to Turkey.
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