International Initiative
Freedom for Ocalan Peace in Kurdistan
P.O. Box 100511, D-50445 Koeln
E-Mail: info@freedom-for-ocalan.com
Url: www.freedom-for-ocalan.com
Cologne, 13 February 2004
INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVE BRIEFINGS:
KONGRA-GEL on account of the current development
concerning A. Ocalan's detention situation an worsening health:
We document the below declaration by KONGRA-GEL on account of
the current development concerning A. Ocalan's detention situation
an worsening health:
****
"To the press and to the general public:
The Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Ocalan has now been kept isolated
from the outside world on the prison island of Imrali for over five
years. He is the only prisoner there. The prison is administered
by a 'crisis staff' on the basis of a special law. For a year his
weekly visits from lawyers and relatives have been arbitrarily blocked.
He last received a visit from his brother and his lawyers on 31.12.03.
He told them that the worsening isolation is seriously threatening
his health and that in particular he is suffering serious shortness
of breath. The damp climate of Imrali is detrimental to his health.
The supply of fresh air to his cell is insufficient and inadequate
hygienic arrangements additionally make his conditions of imprisonment
worse. The isolation, which has gone on for more than five years
now, has considerably weakened his immune system, and this is generally
reflected in his poor physical condition.
At present the policy of isolation in force on Imrali is being
extended to all the prisons in Turkey, and in recent few weeks many
prisoners have been put in isolation cells across Turkey. It is
feared that there will be a rise in human rights violations in Turkey.
The authorities of the Republic of Turkey do not take human rights
seriously, nor do they obey their own laws. Abdullah Ocalan is deprived
of even the most minimal rights guaranteed by law. His weekly visits
by his lawyers and his family, which are in any case limited to
an hour at a time, are being arbitrarily blocked. This practice
is causing permanent injury to his right to defend himself. The
intention is in this way to eventually eliminate him as a political
figure. This is very provocative to the Kurds. Simultaneously the
current peaceful political atmosphere is being sabotaged.
So we expect the Turkish authorities to desist from their provocative
policy and to take steps to calm the situation. In this context
we call on the Kurdish people to step up their level of watchfulness
and to raise their commitment to securing Abdullah Ocalan's freedom.
We call on the appropriate international institutions to intervene
against this illegal policy of execution by degrees, in order to
prevent further human rights violations and the sabotaging of the
peaceful political atmosphere in Turkey.
7 January 2004
KONGRA-GEL
Committee for the Freedom of Abdullah Ocalan"
|