Despite several reports and recommendations by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and judgments by the European Court of Human Rights, Abdullah Öcalan’s right to defense has been severely violated for the last 24 years, but more so since 27 July 2011.
After the collapse of the İmralı Peace Process, Mr Öcalan and three other inmates at the İmralı prison have totally been cut off from the outside world. Ever since, he has received only five visits from his lawyers from May to August 2019 and five visits from his family members since 2014; last face-to-face contact was a visit by his brother on 3 March 2020 and this only after immense public pressure. There are serious doubts about Mr Öcalan’s and the other three prisoners’ health, treatment and conditions of isolation.
Ms Castel
To ask the Committee of Ministers:
How does the Committee address the fact that Abdullah Öcalan and the three other prisoners on the İmralı Island Prison have not had any contact with family, lawyers and the outside world since 25 March 2021, taking account that a situation in which a prisoner subjected to such a strict regime of isolation constitutes a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights?