EINANGRUN ÖCALANS VERÐI ROFIN ÞEGAR Í STAÐ OG RÍKI HEIMS AXLI ÁBYRGÐ!

Í dag átti alþjóðlega sendinenfdin, sem ég er í og hef fjallað um hér á síðunni, fund með mannréttindasamtökum í Istanbul þar sem við fengum að heyra af mannshvörfum Í Tyrklandi sem talin eru vera runnin undan rifjum stjórnvalda. Sklíkt ofbeldi á sér langa og ljóta sögu í Tyrklandi.

Síðan áttum við ítarlegan fund með lögfræðingum Öcalans, hinum fangelsaða leiðtoga Kúrda. Lögfræðingarnir hafa ekki fengið að hitta hann síðan 2011 og fjölskylda hans ekki síðan 2015 að undanskildum einum fundi sem bróðir hans átti með honum 2016 og varði í þrjátíu mínúntur og öðrum slíkum nú í janúar en sá fundur varði í fimmtán mínúntur.

Þetta stríðir gegn tyrkneskum lögum og gegn alþjóðelgum ákvæðum um mannréttindi.

Í dag var hundraðasti sveltidagur Leylu Güven, eins helsta leiðtoga Kúrda. Óttasat er að hún eigi ekki langt eftir. Síðan fylgja yfir 300 manns í kjölfarið sem öllum er stefnt í dauðan ef ekkert era ð gert.

Ætlar heimurinn mótmælalaust að láta ofbeldisfullt ríkisvald ýta þessa fólki út í dauðann því nákvmælega það er verið að gera.

Í uppsiglingu eru hamfarir af mannavöldum. Ekkert annað þarf að gera en að Tyrkir hlíti eigin lögum!

Dagurinn í dag, 15. febrúar er sögulegur að því leyti að þann dag fyrir tuttugu árum var Abdulla Öcalan tekinn höndum í Kenía á leið til Suður-Afríku. Handdtakan byggði á samhæfðu átaki, sem bæði bandaríska og ísraelska leyniþjónustan komu að Tyrkjum til aðstoðar. Það er ekki falleg saga en hana segi ég síðar.

Allt veldur þetta nú vaxandi spennu í Kúrdabygðum Tyrklands.

Eftirfarandi er yfirlýsing (á ensku því miður) okkar sjömenninganna sem við birtum á fréttamannafundi nú síðdegis en til hans boðuðum við að loknum fundi okkar með lögfræðingum Öcalan í dag.

Á myndinni að ofan má sjá ÖJ, Paul Scholey, lögfræðilegan ráðunaut bresku verkalýðshreyfingarinnar, Beverley Ann Keene, þekkta baráttukona fyrir mannréttindum í Argentínu og Maxine Peak, breska leikkonu og leikritahöfund.
Á neðri myndinni er sama fólk.
En auk okkar eru í hópnum, Connor Hayes, sérfróður um málefni Kúrda, Manuel Cortes og Tony Burke sem eru báðir leiðandi í bresku verkalýðshreyfingunni.

Eftirfarandi er yfirlýsing okkar frá í dag:       
AN URGENT APPEAL TO THE GOVERNEMENT OF TURKEY AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Abdullah Öcalan’s unlawful and inhumane isolation must be ended immediately. Otherwise hundreds of people who are on hunger strike in Turkish prisons and outside Turkey face certain death in the coming days and weeks. Today, 15 February 2019, marks both the 20th anniversary of Öcalan’s abduction and the 100th day of HDP MP Leyla Güven´s hunger strike. The situation now for Ms. Güven and the more than 330 others on hunger strike around the world is beyond critical. By failing to exert pressure on the Turkish authorities to abide by their own laws and constitution and the most basic international human rights standards, the international community must be regarded as complicit in serious human rights abuses committed by the Turkish government. We therefore urge the international community to break its silence. 

We the undersigned appeal to the government of Turkey to immediately break the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan, and thus open up the way for peace negotiations. Öcalan has been held in a state of aggravated isolation since 2015, and has not been allowed to contact a lawyer since 2011, in violation of the most basic human rights. The policy of isolation that has been imposed upon Öcalan, and the three others imprisoned on İmralı Island, is not only in violation of International Law and the European Convention on Human Rights, which Turkey is obliged to uphold as a member of the Council of Europe, but is also a violation of Turkey´s own domestic laws and constitution. We regret not having been granted a meeting with the Turkish Minister of Justice in accordance with the request in our letter dated the 21st of January, where we raised our concern for the state of human rights in Turkey, and the systematic practice of imprisonment on political premises. In this meeting, we hoped for the opportunity to voice our concerns and hear the minister’s reactions. 

We, the undersigned, echo the call of the Council of Europe urging Turkey to authorize immediate publication of the CPT´s findings on Turkey. Furthermore, we would like to call attention to the resolution passed recently by the Council of Europe regarding the worsening situation of human rights in Turkey. The Council expressed their deep concern, calling on Turkey to, among other things, abide by the basic human rights principles adopted by the Council of Europe concerning the imprisonment of Öcalan, release the members of parliament that have been imprisoned, and implement reforms to ensure an independent judiciary. 

During our visit, we have met with various groups, including the Human Rights Association, the BAR Association, the Democratic Societies Congress, trade unions, the Women´s Movement, the Peace Mothers, and the lawyers of Abdullah Öcalan. We have also met with HDP MP Leyla Güven, then on her 98th day of hunger strike. She said to us that her hunger strike is not an act of suicide, but rather an act of love for life; to be able to live with human dignity. 

We wish to amplify this message, and make it echo throughout parliament halls and congress chambers around the world. The sole demand of Ms. Güven, the 313 individuals on hunger strike in prisons across Turkey, and the other hunger strikers in Hewler, Strasbourg and Wales, is to end the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan. This demand is ultimately a very simple one; that Turkey comply with and enforce its own laws. It is our firm belief that this critical situation could be changed for the better in a very short time, depending on the actions of the Turkish authorities. 

The ultimate reason for the hunger strikes, and the point we have heard repeated continuously by every group we have met with, is a just peace. It is ubiquitously believed that the first step to restart the peace

process and realize a lasting peace is to end the policy of isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan and the other prisoners of İmralı Island. This is because Öcalan is recognized as the political representative of the people of Kurdistan, he has been a consistent and convincing voice calling for peace, and he has provided a detailed roadmap to achieve a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish question and a democratic settlement of the Middle Eastern conflict. 

The situation of the hunger strikers is at a dangerous point, and it is imperative that the government of Turkey acts to end the isolation now, before there is further violence and bloodshed. During our visit, many people have asked us how it could be that the world has remained so silent on the obvious human rights abuses in Turkey for so long. We share their astonishment and outrage, and moreover, we agree with them that the key to the solution of this critical and worsening situation lies in the hands of the Turkish government; all they must do is turn it. 

--SIGNED—

Beverley Ann Keene, Connor Hayes, Manuel Cortes, Maxine Peak, Paul Scholey, Tony Burke, Ögmundur Jónasson.