ISTANBUL - Stating that they are preparing a new application to the Ministry of Justice against the Imrali isolation, ÖHD Istanbul Branch Co-chair İshak Demirel said: "We expect legal institutions and the public to be sensitive about this issue."
There has been no news from PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş, who are held in Imrali Type F High Security Closed Prison, for 38 months. Legal organizations, bar associations and human rights defenders have applied to the Ministry of Justice many times against the "absolute" lack of communication in Imrali. However, no response was given to these applications. To the application made by the deputies of the People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) to the Presidency of the Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission (IHIK) on December 7, 2023, the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses of the Ministry of Justice responded with "there is no isolation".
İshak Demirel, Co-chair of the Istanbul Branch of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), who was among the 1,330 lawyers applied to the Ministry of Justice on January 22, 2023, to go to Imrali, spoke about the response and initiatives of the ministry.
APPLICATIONS WERE LEAVED UNRESPONDED
Stating that the isolation in Imrali Prison is being deepened and continued, Demirel said that they have made many attempts to eliminate this state of "absolute" lack of communication. Recalling the application made by 1,330 lawyers from 35 bar associations on January 22, 2023, Demirel stated that they still have not a response from the Ministry of Justice regarding the application. Referring to the Ministry's response to the application of DEM Party deputies saying "there is no isolation, they have their rights", Demirel pointed out that the response in question was contradictory and contrary to reality. Demirel said that although the deputies application was related to the process that started in 1999 and specifically after 2011, the ministry gave a response limited to 2023.
CONTRADICTS IN THE MINISTRY'S RESPONSE
Demirel said: “In the answer given, it was stated that there is no isolation on Imrali Island and that the prisoners have their rights, but when we examined the article, we can say that it contains contradictions even without going into the legal part. Although the rights of the prisoners were reminded with reference to the law in the first pages of the article, it is stated that these rights were limited due to the disciplinary penalties given and no comments were made. What is particularly striking in the article is; It is said that there is no disciplinary penalty prohibiting the visit of a lawyer in 2023. However, according to the information we obtained from Asrın Law Firm, we know that applications were made many times for a lawyer's opinion in 2023, even in 2024 and before 2022, but these applications were neither returned nor a meeting was held with Mr. Öcalan and other prisoners."
'DECISIONS ARE NOT NOTIFIED'
Referring to the disciplinary penalties in the response, Demirel said: "In the relevant letter, the Ministry stated that there were 3 disciplinary penalties regarding family and telephone calls and that they were not benefited from their rights due to these disciplinary penalties, but these disciplinary penalties are neither notified to their lawyers nor are they given the right to object. Besides, there is another disciplinary punishment they are hiding; Granted in late 2023. They did not mention this in their response letters. Again, shortly after this answer was made public, Asrın Law Firm lawyers stated that there was a new disciplinary penalty. These disciplinary punishments are a matter of making things up. Because these disciplinary penalties, which we also see in other prisons, are disciplinary penalties given entirely in printed form. Disciplinary penalties imposed by the Administration and Observation Boards are mentioned. But we know how this board decides and what kind of structure it consists of. Disciplinary punishments, which have no legal basis, are given on fabricated grounds, such as inmates reading few books, not saving water and electricity, or not taking books from the library. The fact that there was a new disciplinary penalty following the response of the Ministry of Justice shows that the isolation continues."
'INTERNATIONAL MECHANISM IS NOT OPERATING'
Demirel said that both ÖHD and Asrın Law Firm submit concrete reports to international institutions regarding the isolation and other unlawfulnesses.
“ÖHD Headquarters reveals both the legal and socio-political situation of the isolation with the bulletin it publishes every two weeks. Again, Asrın Law Firm is applying to the ECHR, the UN and the CPT to operate the necessary mechanisms and to call on Turkey to end the isolation. However, in recent years, unfortunately, the mechanism expected from international institutions has not been operated. This is partly due to Turkey's foreign policy and political relations. For example; Although we had a simultaneous application to the CPT and the Ministry of Justice, the CPT did not even take it into consideration like the Ministry of Justice and merely made a statement. It does not publish a report on whether it made a visit there, if so, with whom, its content and what was written about it. The Ministry of Justice draws strength from this and continues to maintain this attitude unless an effective way is developed." Demirel said.
A NEW APPLICATION WILL BE MADE
Sharing that, as ÖHD, they are preparing to make a new application to the Ministry of Justice regarding Imrali, Demirel said: “We are planning to make a new application both to provide an opinion and to allow them to meet with their lawyers. Again, our initiatives with the Ministry of Justice, together with other bar associations in Turkey and Kurdistan, continue. This situation must not be limited to ÖHD. We expect all democratic legal institutions and the public to be sensitive about this issue. Because this isolation is not a situation that only affects us.”
MA / Ibrahim Irmak