Nobel Prize Laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel wrote a letter on behalf of the 40 Nobel Laureates (who had written to the CPT before) expressing their concern for Abdullah Ocalan and demanding the CPT to act on isolation.

Esquivel, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980, wrote in his letter to the CPT: “We have continued to follow very closely the development of events in Kurdistan, among other ways through the visit of the International Peace Delegation, in early February, and the solidarity visit of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo- Founders' Line, in the person of Ms. Nora Cortiñas, and accompanied by the Coordinator of Dialogue 2000, Ms. Beverly Keene, in early March.” 

The letter added: “We are certain that our fellow Nobel Prize Laureates would again share the emphasis that we want to put to the urgency of a more decisive and public action on the part of the CPT, including the realization of an urgent visit to Imralí Prison, as contemplated in the CPT mandate. The CPT must take advantage of the moment to act so as to achieve the reversal of the situation of serious illegality and make possible, together with the social and political action deployed over recent months, the disarming of a whole system of suppression of the fundamental rights of the population, be it Kurdish or no, under detention or not.”

The fact that last Friday, insisted the letter “after seven years, the Turkish authorities allowed Mr. Abdullah Öcalan to receive the visit of his lawyers, seems to us a confirmation of the impact of the massive public solidarity action of Deputy Leyla Güven and the thousands of people who have joined the hunger strike that she began 180 days ago, risking their lives to achieve a humanitarian response from the Turkish government, a response that has eluded the efforts of silent diplomacy.” 

Esquivel continued: “If the institutions created in Europe, in our America and the world over, to contribute to the defense and protection of human rights, do not take decisive action on behalf of those who suffer the abuses of the State, and are cornered by the interests of the States, they lose their very reason to exist.”

The letter ends with the following remarks: “We also reiterate our willingness to accompany the initiatives that are taken in relation to these demands, with the conviction that putting an end to the policy of isolation is a first step towards a broader compliance with human rights in Turkey and, in particular, protection against torture and the possibility of advancing towards a peace based on respect for the rights of individuals and peoples.”

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