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Chamber and committees

Peace in Kurdistan, International Delegation to Imrali

  • Submitted by: Ross Greer, West Scotland, Scottish Green Party.
  • Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2019
  • Motion reference: S5M-17181

That the Parliament notes the recent report produced by the Peace in Kurdistan initiative following its attempt to visit Turkey’s Imrali island prison, where the Kurdish leader, Abdullah Öcalan, is held; further notes that the international delegation, which it understands was denied access to the island, included the former Icelandic Justice Minister, Ögmundur Jónasson, Manuel Cortes, General Secretary of the TSSA union, the actor, Maxine Peake, the University of Edinburgh student, Connor Hayes, and others, and that their attempted visit coincided with the 20th anniversary of Öcalan’s arrest; condemns the conditions of extreme solitary confinement under which it believes Öcalan is being held; acknowledges the over 7,000 political prisoners and other Kurdish politicians and activists, including UK residents, who it understands have engaged in an indefinite hunger strike initiated by the then-imprisoned People’s Democratic Party member of the Turkish parliament, Leyla Guven, to protest the politics of isolation imposed on Öcalan; considers that prolonged isolation is a recognised form of torture and runs counter to the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the "Mandela Rules"; calls for the Council of Europe Committee on the Prevention of Torture to visit and inspect the conditions of Imrali prison and for the Turkish authorities to end the isolation that it considers has been imposed on Öcalan, allowing his lawyers and family to visit him; further calls for the Turkish Government to restart peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and acknowledges the comprehensive peace proposals advocated by Öcalan.


Supported by: Bob Doris, Neil Findlay, John Finnie, Richard Lyle, John Mason