Öcalan's lawyers call on government to allow meetings
Öcalan's lawyers call on government to allow meetings
Asrin Law Office (defending among others Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan) has released a statement to underline and expose the ongoing isolation the Kurdish leader is being subjected to.
The statement, translated by the International Initiative "Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan", underlines that no communication could be established "with our client whatsoever since 27 July 2011, except for one letter that he wrote on 3 February 2012 that we received on 17 February".
Calling on the government to "allow for consultations with Abdullah Öcalan and put an end to his arbitrary isolation which ignores domestic and international law and gives rise to serious concern about his life and health", the lawyers also state to be "presenting this unlawfulness to the public and call to show sensitivity in the light of this serious situation and its disastrous consequences".
Here the full text of the press release.
"The isolation that our client Abdullah Öcalan has been kept under since 1999 in the High Security F Type Prison on Imrali Island has been further aggravated from 27 July 2011 on. Since that day, the government arbitrarily prevents Abdullah Öcalan from meeting his legal representatives or receiving visits from his family. Every week we apply for a consultation with our client. Since 27 July 2011 we have made 96 such applications; each time they were rejected by the state authorities with non-serious and untenable justifications like "boat broken" or "bad weather". At the same time our client has been deprived from his right to use telephone, fax or similar means of communication to inform about his situation or his state of health. Thus we could establish no communication with our client whatsoever, except for one letter that he wrote on 3 February 2012 that we received on 17 February.
Due to this ongoing isolation our client is not up-to-date about the developments in his pending complaint procedures before the European Court of Human Rights and cannot actively exercise his right to defence. Besides, shortly after the Prime Minister targeted them publicly, on 22 November 2011 almost all of Mr Öcalan's lawyers have been detained in an operation against the Asrin Law Office which has taken on Mr Ocalan's legal defence. 36 of his lawyers have been remanded in custody. The aim of this unparallelled operation was to leave Abdullah Öcalan without defence.
The prime minister as well as other representatives of the government have stated openly that the ban on visits that has been in place since 27 July 2011, the longest ban against our client so far, was their deliberate decision and is arbitrarily imposed in breach of applicable law. On the other hand our client clearly explains in his letter that nonattendance at his brother's visit on 19 January 2012 was a reaction to the conditions of the visits (illegal overhearing by an unauthorised person, recording of the consultations and lack of guarantee that lawyers will not be imprisoned). Despite this, press organs close to the government claim with headlines like "Çarpýtýyorlar Aldatýyorlar" ("They distort and cheat") that Öcalan does not want to see his lawyers. These claims are completely unfounded and aim at distorting the current situation. The aim of such unfounded reports on our client, which have multiplied lately, is to legitimise the ongoing, intensified isolation that violates his human rights and to stop the public reactions that have developed against it.
Our client plays a key role for a peaceful solution of the Kurdish issue. During the last year in which no consultations have taken place the clashes have further intensified and claimed more lives. If we take this into account, it becomes obvious that the ban on consultations with our client contributes nothing to peace and a democratic solution.
Therefore we state that the government must allow for consultations with Abdullah Öcalan and put an end to his arbitrary isolation which ignores domestic and international law and gives rise to serious concern about his life and health. We are presenting this unlawfulness to the public and call to show sensitivity in the light of this serious situation and its disastrous consequences.
03 July 2012
Asrin Law Office
Translation: International Initiative "Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan"
[email protected]
The statement, translated by the International Initiative "Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan", underlines that no communication could be established "with our client whatsoever since 27 July 2011, except for one letter that he wrote on 3 February 2012 that we received on 17 February".
Calling on the government to "allow for consultations with Abdullah Öcalan and put an end to his arbitrary isolation which ignores domestic and international law and gives rise to serious concern about his life and health", the lawyers also state to be "presenting this unlawfulness to the public and call to show sensitivity in the light of this serious situation and its disastrous consequences".
Here the full text of the press release.
"The isolation that our client Abdullah Öcalan has been kept under since 1999 in the High Security F Type Prison on Imrali Island has been further aggravated from 27 July 2011 on. Since that day, the government arbitrarily prevents Abdullah Öcalan from meeting his legal representatives or receiving visits from his family. Every week we apply for a consultation with our client. Since 27 July 2011 we have made 96 such applications; each time they were rejected by the state authorities with non-serious and untenable justifications like "boat broken" or "bad weather". At the same time our client has been deprived from his right to use telephone, fax or similar means of communication to inform about his situation or his state of health. Thus we could establish no communication with our client whatsoever, except for one letter that he wrote on 3 February 2012 that we received on 17 February.
Due to this ongoing isolation our client is not up-to-date about the developments in his pending complaint procedures before the European Court of Human Rights and cannot actively exercise his right to defence. Besides, shortly after the Prime Minister targeted them publicly, on 22 November 2011 almost all of Mr Öcalan's lawyers have been detained in an operation against the Asrin Law Office which has taken on Mr Ocalan's legal defence. 36 of his lawyers have been remanded in custody. The aim of this unparallelled operation was to leave Abdullah Öcalan without defence.
The prime minister as well as other representatives of the government have stated openly that the ban on visits that has been in place since 27 July 2011, the longest ban against our client so far, was their deliberate decision and is arbitrarily imposed in breach of applicable law. On the other hand our client clearly explains in his letter that nonattendance at his brother's visit on 19 January 2012 was a reaction to the conditions of the visits (illegal overhearing by an unauthorised person, recording of the consultations and lack of guarantee that lawyers will not be imprisoned). Despite this, press organs close to the government claim with headlines like "Çarpýtýyorlar Aldatýyorlar" ("They distort and cheat") that Öcalan does not want to see his lawyers. These claims are completely unfounded and aim at distorting the current situation. The aim of such unfounded reports on our client, which have multiplied lately, is to legitimise the ongoing, intensified isolation that violates his human rights and to stop the public reactions that have developed against it.
Our client plays a key role for a peaceful solution of the Kurdish issue. During the last year in which no consultations have taken place the clashes have further intensified and claimed more lives. If we take this into account, it becomes obvious that the ban on consultations with our client contributes nothing to peace and a democratic solution.
Therefore we state that the government must allow for consultations with Abdullah Öcalan and put an end to his arbitrary isolation which ignores domestic and international law and gives rise to serious concern about his life and health. We are presenting this unlawfulness to the public and call to show sensitivity in the light of this serious situation and its disastrous consequences.
03 July 2012
Asrin Law Office
Translation: International Initiative "Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan"
[email protected]
