Abdullah Öcalan must be given equal conditions like Mandela says Lawyer Kanar

  • actual
  • 09:24 10 January 2025
  • |
img

ISTANBUL - Stating that all segments of the society must be included in the process, "Legal regulations must be made and equal and favourable conditions must be provided for Abdullah Öcalan like Nelson Mandela," says Lawyer Ercan Kanar.

The isolation of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is being held in İmralı Type F High Security Closed Prison, continues. On 28 December, during the meeting with the DEM Party İmralı delegation, Abdullah Öcalan sent a 7-point message aiming the democratic transformation of Turkey. 
 
Commenting on the issue, Ercan Kanar, one of Abdullah Öcalan's first lawyers, stated that in order for the talks in İmralı to proceed properly, the isolation must first be lifted. Kanar said, "A lagel arrangement must be made in the legislation and Abdullah Öcalan, like Nelson Mandela, must be given a residence with appropriate conditions and then released."
 
CONTRARY TO MANDELA RULES
 
Reminding that Bahçeli accepted the isolation policy with his statements and Erdoğan supported these statements, Kanar stressed that the government, which claimed that there was no such isolation in response to the questions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, had denied itself. Stating that the isolation must be lifted without any conditions and the right to conditional release must be ensured, Kanar underlined that the severe isolation conditions imposed on Abdullah Öcalan are contrary to the Mandela Rules.  
 
Referring to the approaches of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on long prison sentences, Kanar said, "According to the Committee of Ministers, sentences should be reviewed every 8 to 14 years and according to the ECtHR every 25 years. The ECtHR has already stated in many judgements that imprisonment until death is torture and inhuman treatment and is a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. At its last meeting in September (2024), the Committee warned Turkey again about the right to hope and asked the secretariat to prepare a draft interim resolution if it did not take steps in this regard within the next year."
 
'ISOLATION MUST BE LIFTED' 
 
Kanar stated that he found it important that the DEM Party delegation met with Abdullah Öcalan after Bahçeli's call for Abdullah Öcalan. "If a solution and peace talks are to start, first of all the isolation on Abdullah Öcalan must be lifted. A second condition is that the right to education in mother language must be accepted. There can be no real solution in a compromise where education in mother tongue is not accepted. On the one hand, the continued appointment of trustees to the municipalities elected by the Kurds and the continuation of the operations show that the government is not sincere. I do not believe that the government is sincere in a real solution," he said. 
 
Stating that the ongoing isolation in İmralı is linked to the Kurdish issue and that the Kurdish issue is a multidimensional problem. Kanar said, “For this problem to be discussed in a real sense, it is not enough for the DEM Party to meet with Abdullah Öcalan. At the same time, his lawyers and family must also meet with him. Mandela rules must be applied for this. As in the Mandela process, Abdullah Öcalan must be allowed to meet with his lawyers and family. To ensure these conditions, Abdullah Öcalan must be placed under house arrest. After that, the article of the law that regulates imprisonment until death must be abolished. With a law to be enacted later, all political prisoners in prisons, especially Abdullah Öcalan, must be released.”  
 
'ALL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS MUST TAKE ACTION'  
 
Emphasizing that it is not right for the government to base the process on the PKK laying down its arms, Kanar said, “Whether the government accepts it or not, the PKK is a party to this issue. It is even an important party. The government must accept this reality. This reality was accepted in South Africa. It should not discriminate again. The DEM Party, Selahattin Demirtaş and Kandil should not be excluded. Only then can we move towards a peace that will satisfy all parties.” 
 
Kanar said that the solution to the Kurdish issue is not easy and that all democratic institutions in Turkey, as well as rights and legal organizations and trade unions should take responsibility for this, and that all institutions should take action to end the isolation.  
 
MA / Esra Solin Dal 
 

View More Articles

23/01/2025
09:49 Isolation must be lifted, negotiations must be opened says İHD member Güldane Kılıç
22/01/2025
13:53 Syrian Foreign Minister Sheibani calls on Kurds
13:43 144 violations detected in İmralı
12:33 Young man run over by an armoured vehicle: I was beaten, the doctor did not examine me
11:49 Letter he wrote about violations considered as 'disrupt the unity and territorial integrity of the state'
11:21 Journalist Eylem Babayiğit detained
10:59 DEM Party delegation in İmralı
10:35 Palestinian woman reunited with her 'hostage' baby
10:34 What do relatives of the disappeared say about the Kurdish issue?
10:21 Attacks violating right to life must be stopped says Lawyer
10:08 They must sit at table and talk about solution say Prisoners' relatives
10:01 Raphaëlle Primet: Öcalan is indispensable for the solution of the Kurdish issue
09:52 New government conundrum in Federated Kurdistan
09:20 240 detentions in 2 weeks
08:59 DEM Party Delegation will go to İmralı
21/01/2025
16:50 Freedom Watch in Strasbourg in its 657th week
16:44 Tens of thousands honour those massacred in Tishreen
16:34 Rojhilat prisoners call for participation in general strike
16:33 2024 balance sheet of SDF in fight against ISIS
15:12 Turkey attacks olive factory
14:50 Message from Bavê Teyar's prisoner daughter
14:21 Attack on Tishreen: Wounded
14:21 Call to increase struggle at trustee protest in Akdeniz
12:07 Lawyers applies to meet with Abdullah Öcalan
12:06 Abdullah Öcalan letter from intellectuals to Council of Europe
11:18 Same judge arrested 13 journalists in a month
11:04 Decision was pre-determined says arrested journalists lawyer
10:30 Prisoner who objected to handcuffing not treated
09:43 'There will be no peace until Abdullah Öcalan is free'
20/01/2025
16:23 6 journalists arrested
16:16 Attacks on Tishreen condemned in 3 centers
15:05 Trustee protest in Akdeniz on its 11th day
15:04 Protest for Pakshan Azizi in front of Iranian Embassy
14:47 Turkey bombed water reservoir
14:46 'Peace' meeting of women: Our struggle for a free life
13:38 Reaction from 12 bar associations on attacks against Tishreen
12:30 Prosecutor referred journalists for arrest without taking testify
12:17 General strike against executions in Rojhilat
12:02 İmralı Delegation apply to Ministry of Justice
11:51 It's state's turn to take steps, CHP must be part of process says Tülay Hatimoğulları
11:26 Detained journalists appear in court
10:41 People react against Tishreen attacks
10:08 6 prisoners sentenced for cutting wires
09:52 Justice Commission for Rojin Kabaiş: We will follow the case
09:17 'Shoe search' imposition to women prisoners
19/01/2025
12:40 Jin magazine focuses on women's resistance against labour exploitation
10:32 Solution through dialogue will be benefical for everyone says Salih Muslim
10:32 İmralı Delegation apply to Ministry of Justice tomorrow
18/01/2025
17:42 Call from Şirnex: Stop the attacks in Tishreen
17:41 Attack on civilians at Tishreen Dam: Dead and wounded