İSTANBUL - Lawyer Raziye Öztürk, who stated that what happened in Imralı corresponds to the concept of "incommunicado" used by the UN, said that they applied to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to eliminate it.

 

Asrın Law Office, on December 24 , applied to the Constitutional Court for their clients, PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who were held under heavy isolation conditions in İmralı High Security Type F Prison and prisoners Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş for an a "injunction". The Constitutional Court(AYM) notified the lawyers of its refusal decision on they gave on January 12, on January 31.

 

After the refusal, the lawyers applied for "urgent action" to be taken, to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Torture on  February 3. In the application, the lawyers included the reports prepared by the Committee to Prevent Torture (CPT) as a result of its previous visits to Imrali, and referred to the previous decisions of the UN Human Rights Committee regarding the the fact that there has been no word from Öcalan since March 25. The lawyers also emphasized the 7th and 10th articles of the UN Convention on Civil Rights, which regulate the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, and called for "urgent action" for the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to take action.

 

Raziye Öztürk, one of the lawyers of Asrın Law Office, who stated that they will make such applications in order to end the lack of communication in İmralı, expressed that the current practices should end as soon as possible.

 

LAST PHONE CALL

 

Reminding that rumours about their client Öcalan's life and health situation started to circulate on the social media on March 14, 2021, Öztürk said that they made applications to Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office every day after these rumours. Emphasizing that as a result of their application, the families were able to make a phone call on March 25, Öztürk said, “This phone call took place under extraordinary conditions. The families of our clients went to the the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and made a phone call. Our client, Hamili Yıldırım, had a short phonecall with his family.  Mr. Öcalan's calling was interrupted in a very short time. When the phone was cut off, Mr. Öcalan reacted to the situation by stating that what was done to his brother Mehmet Öcalan was unlawful and that lawyers should come to İmralı and hold a meeting with him face to face. Immediately after this reaction, the phone call was cut off and there was no contact after that." 

 

Expressing that the interruption of the phone increased concerns of the people, Öztürk said that other clients, Veysi Aktaş and Ömer Hayri Konar, did not use their rights to a phone call protesting the interruption.

 

FILES OF DISCIPLINARY PUNISHMENT KEPT FROM THE LAWYERS

 

Stating that they made an application to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the Imralı Prison Directorate after the phone call was interrupted, Öztürk said that their applications were not answered and that they applied to the Bursa Execution Judgeship. Reminding that the judge's decision on the 6-month visiting ban for Öcalan given on October 12, 2021, and a 3-month ban on family visits on August 18, Öztürk said, “We have requested the contents of these files. But the files were not given to us for security reasons."

 

'WE ARE CONCERNED'

 

Underlining that according to the court's decision, her clients were notified of the ban, Öztürk said, “But it seems that no one has objected to these decisions. But we know that Mr. Öcalan has not raised any objections for a long time, as a protest. But our other clients are making their objections against such situations. The fact that our clients did not use their right to appeal against these latest penalties further increased the existing concern. After our other applications were rejected, we applied to the Constitutional Court.” 

 

APPLICATION TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

 

Emphasizing that they applied to the Constitutional Court for an "injunction", Öztürk continued: "As of the date we applied to the Constitutional Court, there was a situation of not getting any news for 8 months. Our clients are completely isolated from the outside world, and lawyer visits are banned. In its previous visits, the CPT also found the disciplinary sanctions given by Turkey deceptive and also stated in its reports that it found the decision political. In our application, we mentioned both the CPT reports and stated that there is a serious torture situation for the clients, as this uncertainty concerns the entire public in terms of both his family and Öcalan's political position. As a matter of fact, we took the UN's legal precedent as a basis in our application."

 

KEEPING A PRISONER UNDER THE CONDITION OF INCOMMUNICADO 

 

Stating that the UN defines keeping a person under complete isolation without being able to contact anyone as "incommunicado", Öztürk said that this concept means "to be completely disconnected from the outside world, from all communication tools and from all human contact". Expressing that this concept is a concept that finds its exact equivalent for her clients held in Imralı, Öztürk said, “This situation is torture in terms of the ECHR. CPT had previously described this condition as 'cell within a cell'. It says that incommunicado detention creates a serious uncertainty, it is a situation that is left entirely to the discretion of the administration, and the absence of any control creates a risk to life as a whole. Therefore, we have also processed these in our application to the Constitutional Court. We applied for an injunction from the Constitutional Court to put an end to this torture. But our demands were rejected."

 

CONTINUATION OF IMRALI POLICY

 

Reminding that the applications made for the injunction should be answered within 3 days, Öztürk reminded that the Constitutional Court replied them 36 days later and said, "We call this the İmralı policy.This is how unlawfulness really works there."

 

Öztürk said that they will continue to take initiatives against the rejection of their demands within the framework of the constitution and international conventions.

 

'OUR DEMAND IS HIS FREEDOM'

 

Underlining that Turkey must now comply with the constitution, Öztürk finally said: “As a lawyer, our demand is the implementation of the law. Of course, our main demand is the freedom of our clients. But at this stage, we have a demand for at least the fulfillment of the laws and the opening of the Imrali gates. An indication that the conspiracy, which started on February 15, 1999, is now continuing, is the isolation imposed on our client. This isolation is not limited with Imrali. There is a situation of isolation on the whole society. When the Imrali gate is opened, the whole society will  take a breather. For this reason, serious efforts should be made in every sense to end the isolation.”

 

 

 

MA / Ferhat Celik