Asrın Law Office announced the violation of rights in the last year in İmralı Type F High Security Closed Prison, where PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan is held, at a press conference held at the Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) Istanbul Branch. While the banner "Isolation is a crime against humanity" was hung in the hall where the report was announced, the lawyers of the Asrın Law Office, as well as the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) Istanbul Board Member Ümit Efe, the Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch President Gülseren Yoleri and the Lawyers' Association for Freedom (ÖHD) Istanbul Branch Co-chair Lawyer Eylem Arzu Kayaoğlu attended the press meeting.

 

In the report, which stated that İmralı Prison is an island prison built specifically for Öcalan in February 1999, it was emphasized that domestic and international law were violated in İmralı Prison.

 

A PLACE WHERE FREEDOMS ARE VIOLATED

 

Emphasizing that İmralı prison has been managed with personalized status and practices since 1999, the report states, "Mr. Abdullah Öcalan has been held here for the past 23 years, Hamili Yıldırım, Ömer Hayri Konar and Veysi Aktaş for the  past 7 years in this prison system which we refer to as the 'Imralı Isolation System'. They were kept under extraordinary isolation conditions.The rights to meet with their lawyers, to meet with family members, to talk to them on the telephone and to communicate with the outside world by letter, fax and all kinds of communication tools, which are recognized in the Constitution, international conventions and laws, are completely banned. In short, since its establishment, Imrali Island Prison is a place where fundamental rights and freedoms have been systematically violated."

 

LEGAL SUPERVISION MECHANISM DON'T FUNCTION

 

Underlining that they have not received any news from their clients held in İmralı since 25 March 2021, the report said, “Therefore, we could not obtain any information regarding their health status, detention conditions, measures and developments regarding the pandemic, their legal status and other similar dimensions. There is a state of incommunicado, which causes deep concerns about whether the material and moral integrity of the clients are protected. In particular, the new, authoritarian and oppressive form of government, which was tried to be created as a result of the state of emergency declared in 2016 has created many changes in the legal-political-administrative fields. In this respect, like the previous period, 2021 has been a year in which there is no legal security and legal predictability, and at the same time, all legal monitoring mechanisms are dysfunctional. 

 

ISOLATION AND STATE OF INCOMMUNICADO

 

In the report, it is stated that the guardians, family members and lawyers made written applications to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office every week in 2021 with the request of meeting with their clients held in İmralı, which continues as follows: “The same applications were made regularly to the İmralı Prison Administration through the prosecutor's office. A total of 71 applications made to both institutions by Mr. Öcalan's guardian and the families of all clients during 2021, were not answered in any way, and not a single face-to-face family meeting could be held. There was no positive response to the applications made specifically for official holidays. A total of 202 applications made by lawyers to both institutions throughout the year were left unanswered and no lawyer's meetings were held. However, according to Article 59 of Law No. 5275, the right to meet with lawyers during working hours is regulated. According to Article 25 of Law No. 5275, which regulates the aggravated execution regime specific to Mr. Öcalan, a family visit is required every 15 days. However, the de facto and unlawful visit bans that have been implemented since previous years continued uninterruptedly, and not a single family or lawyer visit could be made in 2021. 

 

THE INTERRUPTED PHONECALL ON MARCH 25

 

Reminding that some rumours about Öcalan's death were spread on the internet on March 14, 2021, while the ban was in effect, the report continued as follows: Written and verbal applications have been made for immediate family and lawyer visits to address these concerns. From March 15, 2021 to March 25, 2021, a total of 9 applications were made each day, for a lawyer's meeting and to meet with family and legal guardians, upon the allegations in question. However, no response was received. The Prison Administration, which does not allow face-to-face visits, called the families to the chief prosecutor's offices in their provinces to exercise their right to make phone calls. During the phone calls planned to take place at the prosecutor's office on March 25, 2021; Mr. Öcalan's meeting with his brother was interrupted abruptly after 3-4 minutes, and the conversation could not be continued. The meeting of Hamili Yıldırım was also cut short; The meetings of Ömer Hayri Konar and Veysi Aktaş, on the other hand, were not carried out because they protested the isolation conditions. In the interrupted short telephone conversation, Mr. Öcalan stated that the current state of isolation is unacceptable, demanded that the right to meet with his lawyers be assured, and invited the responsible authorities to act in accordance with the law. However, after this interrupted phone call with Öcalan and other clients, no contact could be established. No response is given to the requests for visits of the family and the lawyer, and the opportunity to communicate via telephone or letter is not provided.”

 

In the continuation of the report, the current conditions of those held in Imrali was listed as follows:

 

ABDULLAH OCALAN

 

“ * He has been kept in a solitary cell in Imrali Prison since February 15, 1999.

 

 

* He was held alone in prison for the first ten years. After the transfer of the three other prisoners, they were kept alone for 23 hours a day on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends.

 

 

* During the first 12 years, their right to meet with a lawyer was limited to one hour once a week, but even these limited rights were constantly blocked.

 

 

* From July 27, 2011 to this day, for 11 years, only 5 lawyers have been able to meet with him between May-August 2019. The last of these five interviews was on August 7, 2019.

 

 

*Since 2014, only 5 family visits have been carried out.

 

 

* The last face-to-face interview was the one he had with his brother on March 3, 2020.

 

 

* Since the first day, only 2 phone calls have been made, on April 27, 2020 and March 25, 2021.

 

 

* The last phone call on March 25, 2021 was interrupted in a very short time and the conversation could not be continued. There has been no news of him since that day.

 

 

HAMİLİ YILDIRIM

 

* Since May 2015, when he was brought to Imrali Island, he has not been allowed to have a single meeting with his lawyers.

 

 

* He was allowed only 2 family visits during 7 years.

 

 

* The last face-to-face visit with him was the family visit on August 12, 2019.

 

 

* Only 2 phone calls were made between April 27, 2020 and March 25, 2021.

 

 

* As of March 25, 2021, we have no information about him.

 

 

ÖMER HAYRİ KONAR 

 

* He has never been allowed to meet with his lawyers since March 16-17, 2015, when he was brought to İmralı Island Prison.

 

 

* He was only allowed to meet with his family 3 times during 7 years.

 

 

* The last face-to-face interview with him was the family visit dated March 3, 2020.

 

 

* After he was brought to Imrali Island Prison, he was allowed to make one phone call on April 27, 2020 due to the pandemic.

 

 

* The family was informed by the prosecutor's office that he did not go to the phone call dated March 25, 2021 on the grounds that he was protesting the conditions he was held in.

 

 

* As of April 27, 2020, there has been no news from him.

 

 

VEYSİ AKTAŞ

 

* He has never been allowed to meet with his lawyers since March 16-17, 2015, when he was brought to İmralı Island Prison.

 

 

* He was only allowed to meet with his family 3 times during 7 years.

 

 

* The last face-to-face interview with him was the family visit dated March 3, 2020.

 

 

* On April 27, 2020, he was allowed to make one phone call due to the pandemic.

 

* The family was informed by the prosecutor's office that he did not go to the phone call dated March 25, 2021 on the grounds that he was protesting the conditions he was held in.

 

 

* As of April 27, 2020, there has been no news from him.”

 

THE VISITATION BANS THAT WERE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL

 

In the report, it was stated that they made an application to the Bursa Execution Judge on March 30, 2021, since all family and lawyer applications made to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the İmralı Prison administration were unsuccessful, and their application was rejected the next day. As a result of this application, it was stated in the report that they were aware of the existence of a disciplinary sanction prohibiting family visits regarding their clients on January 29, 2021, and said, “The requests that contain different legal regulations such as family visits, lawyer visits and the use of all communication rights are a  form of action that was previously carried out in secret and concluded unlawfully. It was rejected on grounds of disciplinary punishments. However, a disciplinary punishment may restrict family visits at most for a certain period of time, provided that it is in accordance with the law. Although this is the legal regulation, the lawyer meeting requests included in the application were also rejected on the grounds of "disciplinary punishment", which does not contain any legal causality. While lawyer meeting requests can only be prevented for a certain period of time by a court decision after the conditions sought in Article 59 of Law No. 5275 are met, it is a clear violation of the law to base an illegal disciplinary punishment. Similarly, while the law responds to the prohibition of a prisoner from meeting with a certain lawyer under certain conditions, the right of a person to meet with all lawyers in İmralı are being prohibited. 

 

NEW BANS

 

In the continuation of the report, it is stated that “In terms of the family visit request in the application, the illegality of the disciplinary punishment given by the İmralı Disciplinary Board was ignored and it was not even considered to be subjected to a legal filter”, adding, “The 6-month communication ban decision dated September 7, 2020, which was again cited as the reason for the rejection of the phonecall request. Although more than 6 months have passed no response has been given to the objection raised against this decision of the Execution Judge. After the last phone call, which was interrupted in a short time, numerous attempts were made throughout the year to reach the clients, visit them, meet face to face, and get news from them. As no result was obtained from all family, guardian and lawyer visit requests made to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and to the Prison Administration through the Prosecutor's Office, and from the letters sent to the clients at regular intervals, an application was made to the Bursa Execution Judge again on November 22, 2021, but all requests were again rejected again. With the rejection of the application, it was learned that two separate ban decisions had already been made regarding Mr. Öcalan and other clients. Accordingly, it was learned that a disciplinary penalty was given by the Imrali Disciplinary Board on August 18, 2021, preventing family visits for 3 months, and a 6-month lawyer ban was issued by the Bursa Execution Judge on 12 October 2021. 

 

APPLICATION TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT  

 

Emphasizing that they applied to the Constitutional Court on December 24, 2021 for an injunction against administrative and judicial criminal acts and practices aimed at preventing them from receiving news from their clients, the report states that “Incommunicado detention from the Constitutional Court must be immediately terminated and a meeting with the clients must be ensured as soon as possible. It has been requested to take an injunction to establish the conditions. In the application, it was explained that the 'incommunicado' detention violated the prohibition of torture severely. The Constitutional Court, on the other hand, did not consider the total abolition of all rights and the severing of all ties with the outside world unlawful and rejected the request for injunction on January 12, 2022. However, on January 31, 2022, the lawyers were finally notified of the decision, although they should have been notified urgently. As a requirement of the negative obligation, the exercise of the rights should not be prevented, and the violations arising from the positive obligation should be removed. However, the rights and rules in the Law No. 5275, the Constitution and the ECHR cannot find application for Mr. Öcalan and other clients, despite all legal applications, and are left inconclusive by the judiciary. Of course, it is a crime to act illegally according to the person and time instead of the Constitution and laws. Therefore, a criminal complaint was filed against all judges and prosecutors acting illegally in the Imrali Isolation System to the Board of Judges and Prosecutors on December 22, 2021 and to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on  December 27, 2021. There has been no development yet in the criminal complaints made due to the offenses of abuse of duty regulated in Article 257 of the Penal Code No. 5237 and Prevention of the Use of Rights regulated in Article 298. 

 

OTHER APPLICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENTS

 

In the report, the lawyers stated that they called for sensitivity to many official-civil, national-international institutions due to the incommunicado state in Imrali Prison in 2021, and said: 4 separate applications were made at regular intervals throughout the year to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), which is responsible for the elimination of torture. In these applications, it was revealed with detailed information that the detention conditions of İmralı Island Prison exceeded ill-treatment, that the aggravated life sentence regime, practices contrary to the prohibition of torture and the prohibition of discrimination continued systematically, and that as of March 25, 2021, no news was received from the clients, and the state of 'incommunicado' detention continued. For these reasons, the CPT should; De facto visit the Imrali Island Prison, making observations and inspections, ending the visitation bans and improving the detention conditions demanded that coercive measures be taken and the relevant procedures are run. However, 2021 has been a year in which the CPT, which did not take any steps against the Imrali Isolation System, was also dysfunctional and ineffective. 

 

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

 

In the report, which mentioned that they made separate applications were made to Bursa Court of Execution, Ministry of Justice, General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Centers, Department of Human Rights, Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission, Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey at the national public level, the institutions that applied were listed as follows: Together with the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, which are responsible for defending the human rights, seperate applications were made to, Adana Bar Association, Adıyaman Bar Association, Ankara Bar Association, Antalya Bar Association, Batman Bar Association, Bingöl Bar Association, Bitlis Bar Association, Bursa Bar Association, Dersim Bar Association, Diyarbakır Bar Association, Edirne Bar Association, Elazığ Bar Association, Erzurum Bar Association, Eskişehir Bar Association, Gaziantep Bar Association, Hakkari Bar Association, Istanbul Bar Association, İzmir Bar Association, Kars Bar Association, Mardin Bar Association, Mersin Bar Association, Muş Bar Association, Siirt Bar Association, Şırnak Bar Association, Şanlıurfa Bar Association, Tekirdağ Bar Association, Trabzon Bar Association and Van Bar Association, Civil Society in the Penal Execution System (CISST), Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), Equal Rights Watch Association (ESHİD), Memory Center, Human Rights Association (İHD), Lawyers' Association for Freedom (ÖHD), Med Prisoner and Convict Families Legal and Solidarity Associations Federation (MED-TUHAD-FED), Society and Law Research Foundation (TOHAV), Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV). At the international level, applications were made to European Democratic Lawyers (ADL-EDL), Lawyers for Lawyers, European Council of Bars and Law Associations (CCBE), European Bar Federation (FBE), European Association of Lawyers for Democracy (ELDH), World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), Human Rights Watch (HRW), Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), Human Rights Support Project in Turkey, International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), International Human Rights Service (ISHR) and Amnesty International.

 

OTHER INITIATIVES

 

Many human rights organizations also made many statements against the harsh isolation conditions in Imrali Prison, and the report stated that various attempts were made to make the conditions of detention compatible with human rights.A call was made by the ÖHD, Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), Human Rights Association (İHD), Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), Society and Law Research Foundation (TOHAV) and Civil Society Association in the Penal Execution System (CISST) to the CPT. The institutions criticized the CPT's failure to visit Imrali Prison during its January 2021 visit to Turkey, and demanded an effective follow-up and a report prepared by visiting the Imrali Prison in order to fulfill the requirements of the report dated August 5, 2020. 

 

THE BAN ON TORTURE WAS VIOLATED

 

It was stated in the report that the ban on torture was violated and the clients were subjected to severe isolation conditions exceeding the natural limitations. It was also stated that CPT visited İmralı prison 8 times so far and it underlined in all of its reports that the situation in İmralı violates the ban on torture. It was also underlined that the state of incommunicado violates the right to communication. The report also states that the right to a fair trial of the clients were also violated.

 

LACK OF EFFECTIVE REMEDY

 

 

The report, which underlined that one pillar of the Imrali Isolation System is the judiciary, stated: “It has been experienced a lot in the past 23 years. The Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and Bursa Execution Judges, which are the supervisory and decision makers of the Imrali Prison execution regime, systematically made restriction and prohibition decisions for a period of 23 years. Approval decisions have been made regarding all disciplinary punishments. Almost all objections were dismissed. All applications made directly to the court for the purpose of granting external rights were rejected. Due to the practices of judges and prosecutors contrary to their duties and responsibilities, all applications made to the Board of Judges and Prosecutors were not processed by the Board, causing the continuation of the existing illegal status. The attitude of all administrative and judicial institutions against the rights violated in Imrali Prison and the domestic legal applications made against them until today has become an administrative practice that includes continuity and uninterruptedness. Imrali Island Prison is the place of confinement where the heaviest level of isolation, hence inhumane conditions, is practiced in Turkey, Europe and the world.”

 

Underlining that the execution regime of aggravated life imprisonment is regulated in Articles 25 and 107 of Law No. 5275, the report states that “It is stated that the prison sentence will continue throughout the person's life and will not be interrupted in any way. In addition, according to these regulations, a person can benefit from basic rights and freedoms at a minimum level during his time in prison. On the other hand, the ECtHR, in its Öcalan No. 2 decision dated March 18, 2014, ruled that these legal regulations are against the prohibition of torture and stated that they should be amended in order to bring them into line with the law. An application was made to the Bursa Execution Judge on 01 October 2021 for the execution of the ECtHR's decision on Öcalan No.2. It was requested from the court to apply to the Constitutional Court for the annulment of the provisions of the law no. 5275, which constitutes an obstacle to the conditional release, due to its unconstitutionality. In addition, as determined by the ECtHR decision, it was demanded that Mr. Öcalan was held in conditions contrary to the prohibition of torture for 23 years, and that his detention should be terminated without further prolonging the imprisonment in terms of social, political and legal aspects and to  his freedom must be ensured. However, the offices of judge of execution rejected the application, ignoring the ECtHR's findings of violations and the evaluations in the decision. An application was made to the Constitutional Court on December 3, 2021 with the same demands.”

 

ÖCALAN'S FREEDOM

 

Reminding that the ECtHR issued similar violation decisions in the applications of Kaytan/Turkey, Gurban/Turkey and Boltan/Turkey, following the Öcalan No.2 decision that the aggravated life sentence in the form of imprisonment until death, violates the prohibition of torture, the report states that “Four files are filed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. It was included in the monitoring process in Turkey, but although Turkey did not comply with the decision, it was not brought up by the Committee for 7 years. In 2021, ÖHD, İHD, TİHV and TOHAV applied to the Committee on the grounds that the relevant ECtHR decisions were not implemented, and after these developments, the Committee decided to put all four decisions on its agenda. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is responsible for ensuring that the violations in the said decision are eliminated, re-determined in the interim decisions of the meeting dated November 30- December 2, 2021 that the existing violation of the prohibition of torture continues, that Turkey did not share the available information on the subject and did not fulfill the requirements of the decision. Along with these findings, it stated that legal and other adequate measures should be implemented without delay for the review mechanism to review aggravated life imprisonment after a certain minimum period. It has been requested to take the necessary steps as soon as possible and to inform the Committee about these steps until September 2022. The aggravated execution regime, which developed uniquely to Mr. Öcalan and is practiced as torture in Turkey, of course, needs to be changed. The fulfillment of this decision is only possible with the freedom of Mr. Öcalan, who has spent 23 years behind under severe isolation conditions.

 

DETECTION AND RESULTS

 

In the conclusion part of the report, the findings and results are listed as follows:

 

* Located in the Marmara Sea, within the borders of Turkey's sovereignty, Imrali Prison is administered with the Imrali Isolation System, in violation of the prohibition of torture, fundamental rights and freedoms, universal principles and rules, and democratic values. Mr. Abdullah Öcalan has been subjected to the most severe torture conditions for 23 years. Konar, Aktaş and Yıldırım were also included in this system and were subjected to torture and inhuman practices during their 7 years in İmralı Island Prison.

 

* The year 2021, when we did not hear from Öcalan and our other clients, was a year in which the isolation reached its most severe level. No news has been heard from them since March 25, 2021, and all their ties with the outside world have been severed.

 

* All applications of the family and their lawyers were left unanswered and no visits were allowed. They are also not reachable through letter or telephone.

 

* Throughout the year 2021; The prohibition of torture in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to a fair trial regulated in Article 6, the right to respect for family and private life and the right to correspondence regulated in Article 8, and Article 18 that prohibits the unreasonable restriction of rights and freedoms through an effective remedy regulated in Article 13. has been violated.

 

* A crime has been committed by the practitioners of the Imrali Isolation System by violating all negative and positive obligations.

 

* The experiences in the whole country during the Imrali process, which has left 23 years behind, have shown that; Whenever security policies have been brought to the fore in the approach to the Kurdish question, the isolation in Imrali Island Prison has been deepened in parallel with these policies. Especially in the the last 6-7 years.

 

* Likewise, the aggravation of the isolation in Imrali leads to the abolition of rights and freedoms in Turkey. Today, the conditions in the country and the absolute isolation in Imrali develop in a cause-effect relationship. 

 

* The Imrali Isolation System, in which the Constitution, ECHR and other legal obligations are ignored, creates a life outside of law and democracy  in Turkey.

 

* When Öcalan was able to establish a dialogue with the society, there were times that gave hope and breath to all the peoples of Turkey.

 

* Öcalan has always declared that he is in favor of a democratic, constitutional and peaceful solution to the Kurdish Question. In the 23-year Imrali process, he has played its historical role by building a policy of peace and survival that cannot be ignored against the forces against dialogue and solution. The honorable peace envisaged by Mr. Öcalan will pave the way for Turkey's democratization and make the Middle East more livable.

 

* All political, social and legal parameters impose immediate paving the way for family and lawyer visits with Mr. Öcalan and other Clients, hearing from them, ensuring freedom and security conditions, and transitioning to a dialogue and negotiation policy in the Kurdish issue.”