PKK leader’s life sentence ‘rights violation,’ European court rules
18 March 2014 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL – The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) announced a ruling on Tuesday on an application filed by terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, indicating that Turkey partly violated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and calling on the country to create the possibility of conditional release for life sentences, or even abolish them completely.
Öcalan’s application mainly concerned his irreducible life sentence and the conditions of his detention. He was captured in 1999 in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi and is currently serving a life sentence on the island of İmralı near İstanbul. He was convicted of leading the PKK in an armed struggle against the Turkish military.
Citing Articles 2, 3 and 8 of the ECHR, Öcalan filed complains on his social isolation inside İmralı Prison and the restrictions imposed on his phone communications, his correspondence and his visits from members of his family and lawyers. He also claims that he is being gradually poisoned. In the judgment given by the court on Tuesday, the ECtHR ruled that there had been a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the ECHR regarding the conditions of Öcalan’s detention up until Nov. 17, 2009. Öcalan was in solitary confinement at the İmralı prison from February 1999 to November 2009. By six votes to one, the court ruled that there had not been any violation of the same article during the period subsequent to Nov. 17, 2009. However, the court also ruled that there had been a violation of Article 3 regarding Öcalan’s sentence to life imprisonment without parole but, by four votes to three, the court decided there had been no violation of Article 8 (right to respect private and family life). It also ruled that there had been no violation of Article 7, titled “No punishment without law.” In its verdict, the ECtHR quoted Dante Alighieri’s famous line, “Ye who enter, abandon all hope,” warning that Ankara shouldn’t be upholding this ideal and that “Prisons should not turn into gates to hell.”
The most exceptional part of the ruling regards the life imprisonment of the PKK leader without any prospect of release. The court stated that the sentence should not be “irreducible,” which means that a prisoner serving life should be allowed the prospect of being release.
The ECHR argued that its ruling was adequate to compensate for the harm done, indicating that Öcalan did not file a request for any form of compensation. The court ruled that Turkey should pay Öcalan 25,000 euros for court costs and expenses.The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has found no evidence of ill-treatment of prisoners at İmrali Prison, but it has made recommendations to improve conditions. The CPT released a report focusing on the conditions of the İmrali F-Type high security closed prison on March 13, following a receipt of authorization from the Turkish government. Material conditions in the cells remain of a good standard overall, and the CPT noted Öcalan has been provided with a TV, which the committee had recommended on its previous visits. The PKK has been involved in a 30-year conflict with the Turkish military. Öcalan declared a cease-fire in 2013 over the course of negotiations with the government.