There has been no news from PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and prisoners Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş, who are held in absolute isolation in İmralı Type F High Security Closed Prison, for 34 months. Actions and events continue from all over the world within the scope of the "Freedom for Öcalan, solution to the Kurdish issue" campaign, which is carried out at the global level against the systematic isolation in Imrali. The hunger strike action launched by political prisoners in prisons in Kurdistan and Turkey to support the campaign has reached its 48th day.

 

Lawyer Heval Sinan Aras, Board Member of the Human Rights Association (IHD) Wan Branch, evaluated the isolation system of Abdullah Öcalan and the hunger strikes in prisons.

 

Stating that the state and the government have trampled all the law with the isolation, Lawyer Heval Sinan Aras explains that isolation is “a different practice implemented by the state, especially independent of the law, in a period when trials are political and convicts or detainees are political. She defined it as a sanction that makes the person lonely and isolated.

 

'IT CANNOT BE ADDRESSED BY LEGAL LEGISLATION'

 

Stating that Abdullah Öcalan, who was held in İmralı, was also isolated, similar to many leaders of political movements in the world, Aras said: “In the case of Öcalan, Turkey has come to a point where it does not even apply its own execution law or criminal law. Öcalan has not been allowed to meet with his lawyers and relatives for 34 months. This is not an issue that can only be addressed from a legal perspective. In fact, what is meant by the isolation system is to create an obstacle to the solution of the Kurdish issue through democratic, fair and peaceful methods."

 

'MR. ÖCALAN IS A SYMBOLIC NAME'

 

Stating that the isolation system aims to reduce the influence of Abdullah Öcalan on the Kurds and democratic demands, Aras stated the following: “The actions and activities carried out all over the world against the isolation system in İmralı. The campaign 'Freedom for Öcalan, solution to the Kurdish issue' was launched simultaneously in 74 centers of the world. As part of this campaign, political prisoners in prisons in Kurdistan and Turkey started a rotating hunger strike on November 27. Mr. Öcalan is a symbolic name, it would not be right to consider it as the isolation applied only to an ordinary convict. This isolation system against Öcalan is a very comprehensive policy. The main demand of the hunger strike actions initiated at this point is to end the isolation imposed on Mr. Öcalan."

 

ISOLATION POLICY IN EVERY PRISON

 

Stating that there are general rights violations in prisons, Aras said: “Prisoners tried for political reasons are subjected to different rights violations. The isolation system is not a policy applied only to Mr. Öcalan. The isolation system has spread throughout the existing prisons. Especially the recently built prisons were built with an architecture suitable for the isolation system. Prisoners held in single wards are faced with a policy of isolation."

 

Lawyer Aras also noted that the isolation of political prisoners was deepened after they started a hunger strike. Aras said: “Prisoners are held separate from their cellmates and their communication with other wards is cut off. There are many practices that are applied arbitrarily. We turn these into reports. In the applications we receive regarding hunger strikes, the prisoners are not adequately checked for health, necessary medicines are not given, and nutritional demands are not adequately met. Vitamins are not given to prisoners to avoid healthy results from the hunger strike. Prisoners who go on hunger strikes are isolated by being held in a single cell or may be given disciplinary punishments."

 

‘ISOLATION IMPOSED ON IMRALI MUST BE ABOLISHED’

 

Emphasizing that the isolation system and the hunger strike action launched in prisons against it should be on everyone's agenda, Aras said: “Prisons reflect the color and texture of a country. Especially the approach to convicts or detainees tried for political reasons determines the nature of the penal system in that country. Therefore, for Turkey to democratize and achieve a more democratic government and to implement modern criminal law principles, the isolation imposed on normal prisons, especially the isolation imposed on Imrali, must be abolished. This is not only a criminal or legal issue, it is also a priority for the democratic and peaceful solution of the Kurdish issue, which is one of the most fundamental problems of this country. If a truly healthy step is to be taken regarding the democratic revolution or evolution of this country, the isolation system in Imrali must first be ended and started in prisons."