Ögmundur Jónasson, Honorary Associate of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Signatory to the International Initiative, “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan—Peace in Kurdistan” sent a letter to Mme Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe to raise the issue of the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan.

Jónasson wrote: “Allow me to explain why I have decided to write an open letter to you. In a way I see my letter to be a continuation of my visit to the Council of Europe in the spring of 2019 and the dialogue I took up with your office and the CPT at the time. This was in the wake of an International Peace Delegation to Turkey asking for an end to the aggravated isolation of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and a resumption of peace negotiations between the Turkish authorities and the Kurdish community.

Since this time, one and a half years ago, I have been on two further fact finding missions to Turkey (the latter, in February of this year, being virtual due to Covid) with the same objective: Advocating respect for human rights and that peace negotiations with the Kurdish community to be resumed. As I will explain, a precondition for this to succeed is that Abdullah Öcalan be invited to the negotiating table. The spark for writing this letter now, however, is news that has recently spread quickly on social media with rumours of Abdullah Öcalan´s serious health condition, even demise. This was denied by the authorities, but could not be confirmed due to the solitary confinement of Öcalan at İmralı prison. This highlights the danger of keeping in the dark, in utter isolation, a political prisoner of the standing of Abdullah Öcalan.”

Jónasson continued: “I know very well the limitations faced by the CPT and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in taking action against human rights abuses, but there must also be limits on inaction. Sometimes it is not sufficient to say that a situation is “not acceptable” when in fact it is such that it should not under any circumstances be tolerated. The President of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg visited Turkey last year at the invitation of Turkish authorities to be awarded an honorary medal.”

Jónasson ended his letter with the following remarks: “Am I allowed to ask the Secretary General of the Council of Europe how the bastion of human rights in Strasbourg is to honour the victims of those same authorities? I strongly believe that a positive change in the situation of Abdullah Öcalan will contribute to stability, peace, the rule of law and democratization in Turkey, which is good for us all. The Council of Europe can play an important role in this regard.”

The full text of the letter can be read here