Oproep tegen isolatiefolter Öcalan in Turkije Bas - 03.08.2004 13:17
Abdullah Öcalan mag op dit moment niemand meer zien, zelfs zijn advocaten niet. Hier volgt een Engelstalige internationale oproep om deze isolatiefolter te beëindigen. Cologne, 16 July 2004 Urgent Appeal Since June 9 2004 Abdullah Öcalan has not been allowed to receive visits from his lawyers and family. Officially it is claimed that the boat, which is used for the journey to the prison island, Imrali, has broken down and must be repaired. The fact that there are many alternative ways of travelling makes the reason given not very convincing, and this has caused serious worries. Since his illegal abduction to Turkey on February 15 1999 the leader of the Kurdish people has been held prisoner in isolation under the most dehumanising circumstances. He is the only prisoner in the fortified building. The prison island has been declared a military zone, which means that it falls under the jurisdiction of the crisis management staff, which is only answerable to the Turkish prime minister. Time and again visits by lawyers and family members are prevent for differing reasons, and the right to communication with the outside world is denied. The six years of isolation detention have seriously affected the health of the Kurdish leader. Turkey has refused to allow a visit by an independent medical commission. The measures taken against Öcalan are in breach of international law. They are not in line with the European Convention on Human Rights. The demand made by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) of the European Council, to abandon the isolation measures taken against Öcalan has been ignored by the Turkish government. On the contrary, the restrictions were tightened even further. The aim of the deprivation of the senses used against Öcalan is to destroy him mentally and physically. This amounts to an execution in instalments. As a candidate member of the European Union, Turkey has a duty to uphold the Copenhagen criteria, including among others upholding compulsory human rights standards. The European institutions responsible for the expansion of the EU view this situation in silence. The Turkish institutions involved see this silence as approval of their current course of action. Despite all these problems Abdullah Öcalan is continuing to strife for a democratic solution of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict and the democratisation of the Middle East region as a whole. He had and still has a big role in the search for a peaceful solution. The use of isolation detention against him shows that the Turkish government's aim is to find a solution to the problem while shutting out the Kurdish side. In this way they want to establish a solution, which only serves the interests of the Turkish state. The law reforms, which were brought in under pressure from the EU, appear to be of only cosmetic nature. Because of this: · International ad hoc delegation to Imrali · Immediately lift the isolation detention of Abdullah Öcalan! UN Special Rapporteur on Torture C/o Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations Office in Geneva CH- 1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland Email: urgent-action@ohchr.org OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Mr. Sirpa RAUTIO Aleje Ujazdowskie 19 00-557 Warsaw / POLAND Tel: 0048 22 52006 00 Fax. 0048 22 520 06 05 Email: Sirpa.Rautio@odihr.pl International Bar Association 271 Regent Street London W1B 2AQ Tel: +44 (0)20 7629 1206 Fax: +44 (0)20 7409 0456 E-mail: member@int-bar.org Physicians for Human Rights 100 Boylston Street Suite 702 Boston, MA 02116 USA Tel: (617) 695-0041 Fax: (617) 695-0307 email: phrusa@phrusa.org Human Rights First 333 Seventh Avenue, 13th Floor New York, NY 10001-5004 Tel: (212) 845 52 00 Fax: (212) 845 52 99 Email: communicatiosn@humanrights.org The International Network of Medicines du Mond 62, rue Marcadet 75018 Paris / France Tel: 0033 1 44 92 14 15 Fax : 00 33 1 44 92 14 55 Email : bearoux@medecinsdumonde.net Medecins Sans Frontieres MSF International Office Rue de la Tourelle, 39 - Brussels - Belgium Phone: +32-2-280-1881 Fax: +32-2-280-0173 Human Rights Watch Rue Van Campenhout 15, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel: 32 (2) 732-2009 Fax: 32 (2) 732-0471 hrwatcheu@skynet.be First signatories of the International Initiative: Máiréad Maguire (Nobel Price Award, Northern Ireland), Dario Fo (Director, Writer, Actor, Nobel Literature Price Award, Italy), Adolfo Perez Esquivel (Nobel Literature Price Award, Argentine), Jose Ramos-Horta (Peace Nobel Price Award, East-Timor), José Saramago (Nobel Literature Price Award, Portugal), Danielle Mitterrand (President, Donation France Liberté, France), Ramsey Clark (Lawyer, former Attorney General, USA), Uri Avnery (Former Member of Knesset, Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc), Israel), Prof. Dr. Noam Chomsky (Linguist, Writer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA), Alain Lipietz (Member of the European Parliament, France), Pedro Marset Carpos (Member of the European Parliament, Spain), Mrs. Jean Lambert (Member of the European Parliament, GB), Lord Avebury (Chairman, Parliamentary Human Rights Group, House of Lords, GB), Harry Cohen (Member of Parliament, Labour Party, GB), Cynog Dafis (Member of Parliament, Plaid Cymru, GB), Lord Raymond Hylton (House of Lords, GB), Lord Rea (House of Lords, Great Britain), Walid Jumblat (President, Socialist Progressive Party, Lebanon), Rudi Vis (Member of Parliament, Labour Party, GB), Paul Flynn (Member of Parliament, Labour Party, Great Britain), Máiréad Keane (Director, International Department, Sinn Fein, Northern Ireland), Domenico Gallo (Lawyer, former senator (CI), member of Magistratura Democratica, Italy), Livio Pepino (Lawyer, President of Magistratura Democratica, Italy), Xabier Arzalluz (President, PNV (Basque Nationalist Party), Tony Benn (Member of Parliament, Labour Party, GB), Giovanni Palombarini (Lawyer, former president of Magistratura Democratica, Italy), Heidi Ambrosch (Vice-president and Women Speaker, Communist Party of Austria), Mag. Walter Baier (President, Communist Party of Austria), Giana Nanini (Artist, Italy), Geraldine Chaplin (Actress, Madrid, Spain), Dietrich Kittner, (Humorist, Writer, Cabarettist, Germany), David MacDowall, (Writer, GB), Alice Walker, (Writer, USA), Franca Rame, (Actress, Director, Writer, Italy), Prof. Dr. Jean Ziegler (Member of the Swiss National Council, Publisher, Switzerland), Dr. Diether Dehm (Vice President, PDS, Germany), Prof. Dr. Angela Davis (University of California, Santa Cruz, USA), Prof. Dr. Luigi Ferraioli (Philosophy and Law Professor, Italy), Prof. Dr. Uwe Jens Heuer (Law Professor, Berlin, Germany), Prof. Dr. Wolf-Dieter Narr (Comittee for Fundamental Rights and Democracy, Germany), Prof. Dr. Werner Ruf (International Law Professor, Kassel University, Germany), Prof. Dr. Norman Paech (International Law Professor, Hamburg School of Economy and Politics, Germany), Prof. Dr. Gerhard Stuby (International Law Professor, Bremen University, Germany), Prof. Dr. h.c. Ronald Mönch (Chair of Bremen Highschool, Germany), Prof. Dr. Elmar Altvater (President, International Lelio Basso Donation for the rights of the peoples, Germany), Prof. Dr. Helmut Dahmer (Sociology Professor, Darmstadt Technical University, Germany), Prof. Jürgen Waller (Chair of School of Arts, Bremen, Germany), Christine Blower (Former President, National Union of Teachers (NUT), Great Britain), Ken Cameron (General Secretary, Fire Brigades Union (FBU), GB), Josep Lluis Carod Rouira (President ERC, Barcelona, Spain), Michael Feeny (Adviser of Cardinal Hume in refugee affaires, GB), Gareth Peirce (Lawyer, Great Britain Frances Webber, Barrister, GB), Norbert Mattes (Information Project Near und Middle East, Germany), Yayla Mönch-Buçak (Oldenburg University, Germany), Dr. Mamoud Osman (Kurdish Politician, Great Britain), Jutta Bauer (Book Illustrator, Germany), Günther Schwarberg (Journalist, Germany), Hans Branscheidt (medico international / Appell von Hannover), Germany Rolf Becker (Actor, IG Medien (Media Union), Germany) |