A vigil by the Democratic Kurdish Community in Switzerland has been taking place in front of the UN headquarters in Geneva since 25 January 2021. Every Wednesday, activists stage a protest in front of the United Nations building to demand the release of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan. The action is carried out as part of the 'Dem dema azadiye' [Time for Freedom] campaign and directed against the isolation of the Kurdish leader on the Turkish prison island of Imrali, the Turkish occupation attacks on Kurdistan, the massacres committed in Kurdish territories and the silence of the UN.

During this week's demonstration, which is held at a tent set up in Nation Square where the UN Office is located, activists denounced the detention conditions of Abdullah Öcalan, from whom no news has been received for 43 months. Banners were unfurled demanding the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights' judgements and the right to hope for Abdullah Öcalan.

In the speeches made during the demonstration, international institutions, including the UN, the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), were reminded that the only condition for the solution of the Kurdish question and the establishment of lasting peace in the Middle East is paving the way for dialogue with Abdullah Öcalan.

After a minute of silence in honour of the martyrs of the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle, Ramazan Kızılkurt made a speech on behalf of the protest committee denouncing the 43 months of absolute incommunication of Abdullah Öcalan.

Kızılkurt said that the occupation of Kurdistan and the genocide against the Kurdish people is wanted to be completed through the torture of isolation in İmralı F Type High Security Prison.

Stating that the guerrilla struggle against occupation and genocide continues in four parts of Kurdistan, mainly in the Medya Defence Zones (guerrilla-held areas in northern Iraq), Kızılkurt said, “Kurdistan freedom guerrillas are putting up epic resistance against occupation and genocide attacks in four parts of Kurdistan, especially in Zap, Avaşîn, Metîna.”

Kızılkurt saluted the guerrilla resistance and emphasised that as Kurds living in the diaspora, they will continue to be in action until the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan is ensured and the occupation and genocide attacks are brought to an end.