Imprisoned Kurdish leader did not meet CPT delegation -lawyers

Asrin Law Office, who represent imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan as well as several other PKK convicts who serve in the same prison in Imrali island claimed that their clients did not meet with the visiting officials from the CPT (European Committee for the Prevention of Torture,) an organization of Council of Europe which visits places of detention and assesses how persons deprived of their liberty are treated in order to strengthen their protection from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The law office said that the CPT had not made a statement after the visit, so they held a face-to- face meeting with the CPT officials in October. Yet, CPT officials did not provide the slightest information about the conditions of the Imrali prisoners, nor did they answer any of the lawyers’ questions.

“Although we have filed numerous applications and complaints regarding this issue, our clients’ legal rights have not been established until date. The last physical contact with them occurred within the scope of a family visit on March 3, 2020,” the statement by Asrin Law Office read.

It continued: “Our clients were not allowed any physical contact with the outside world after that date. Forced by extraordinary circumstances, the authorities exceptionally granted permission for a phone call on March 25, 2021, only one year after the last visit. Mr. Ocalan’s phone call with his brother was aborted early due to interruption. After this problematic contact, it has not been possible to access any confirmed information about our clients.”

The statement concluded:

“For 20 months after these phone calls, our clients have been completely isolated from the outside world and held in absolute incommunicado detention, a state of affairs that contravenes universal legal standards and national legislation, amounting to torture and ill-treatment. Although we have made many attempts to draw attention to the consequences caused or likely to be caused by this treatment and to seek redress for it, unfortunately, it has not been possible for us to obtain any results”