News Center- As part of the “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and a political solution to the Kurdish question” campaign, 95 well-known figures in Germany, including academics, trade unionists, lawyers, activists, NGOs, political parties and journalists has been sent a joint letter to Alan Mitchell, President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).

‘We urge you to send a delegation to Imrali immediately’

The letter urges the CPT to send a delegation to Imrali immediately to speak Abdullah Öcalan, who is seen by millions of Kurds as their legitimate political representative, stressing that an inhumane isolation has been imposed on him.

Asking the CPT to act in accordance with Article 3 of the Statute of the Council of Europe, the letter says, “Mr. Öcalanhas been subjected to isolation torture for 25 years. He has been denied any contact with the outside world, including his lawyers and his family, for over three years now.” The letter continues as follows:

“We urge you to send a delegation to Imrali immediately to speak to Mr Öcalan and find out more about his welfare. It would be highly desirable if you could urge Turkey to finally grant Mr Öcalan the fundamental right to meet his family and lawyers. Such action is crucial to ensure that Turkey fully honours its obligations as a member of the Council of Europe. This would help resolve a pressing human rights issue and address the concerns of millions of Kurds. It could also revitalise the spirit of reconciliation that is necessary for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question in Turkey.”

Signatories:

Prof Dr Alex Demirovic, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main; Andrej Hunko, Member of the Bundestag, Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance; Anja Flach, Anja Flach, Ethnologist and author; Anja Popp, Lawyer; Anja Sommerfeld, Member of the Federal Board of Rote Hilfe e.V. ; Anna Magdalena Busl, Lawyer; Barbara Majd Amin, Spokesperson for the groups of Peace Coordination Berlin; Cansu Özdemir, Parliamentary group DIE LINKE Hamburg; Carolin Kaufmann, Lawyer; Prof Dr Cengiz Barskanmaz, Fulda University of Applied Sciences; Christa Blum, Doctor, Member of the medical peace organisation IPPNW; Prof Dr Christine Graebsch, Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts; Christine Lüth, Lawyer; Dr Christoph Dembowski, Member of the medical peace organisation IPPNW; Christoph Klug, Qualified psychologist; Prof Dr Daniel Bendix, Friedensau Adventist University of Theology; Dr Dario Azzellini, Political scientist and sociologist; Dieter Kaltenhäuser, Alliance for Justice between Israelis and Palestinians; Elisabeth Kaltenhäuser, Alliance for Justice between Israelis and Palestinians; Erika Wieland, Psychological psychotherapist; Erkan Pehlivan, Journalist; Ernst Ludwid Iskenius, Doctor, member of the medical peace organisation IPPNW; Fabian Scheidler, Publicist; Prof Dr Frank Deppe, Political scientist; Prof Dr Frieder Otto Wolf, Freie Universität of Berlin; Friedrich Roeingh, Journalist; Friedrich Vetter, Retired pastor; Gabi Zimmer, Former Member of the European Parliament, Die LINKE; Gerd Schumann, Author; Gerhard Baisch, Lawyer; Prof. a.D. Dr Gerhard Trabert, Association Poverty and Health in Germany e.V.; Dr med. Gisela Penteker, Member of the medical peace organisation IPPNW; Gökay Akbulut, Member of the Bundestag, Die Linke; Prof Dr Gregor Büchel, Cologne University of Applied Sciences; Dr Gregor Gysi, Member of the Bundestag, Die Linke; Gudrun Weckmann-Lautsch, Lawyer; Harald Klinke, Lawyer; Hartmut Plötz, Economist; Dr Helmuth Markov, Former Member of Parliament/ State Minister; Holdger Platta, Humanist Union; Isaac Gonzales, Chairman of Wir sind da e.V.; Joachim Schaller, Lawyer; Johannes Patett, Lawyer; Jörq Heuer, Cultural worker, activist; Dr Judith Dellheim, Economist; Jutta Kausch-Henken, Spokesperson for the groups of Peace Coordination Berlin; Prof Dr Karin Kulow, Middle East scholar and conflict researcher; Kerem Schamberger, Communication scientist and author; Konstantin Wecker, Singer-songwriter, author and composer; Laura Freiin von Wimmerserg, Moderator of the Berlin Peace Coordination Centre; Prof Dr Lothar Zechlin, University of Duisburg-Essen; Dr Lukas Theune, Lawyer, managing director of the Republikanischer Anwältinnen- und Anwälteverein e.V. (RAV); Marion Böker, Director/Founder, Counselling for Human Rights & Gender Issues; Marit Vahjen, Member of the IPPNW Human Rights Group Turkey; Markus Lautenschlager, Pastor; Matthias Jochheim, Member of the Medical Peace Organisation IPPNW; Prof Dr Michael Brie, Philosopher and social scientist; Michael Bouteiller, Former Mayor of Lübeck; Dr Michael Wilk, Emergency physician, psychotherapist; Milan Martín, Lawyer; Miriam Frieding, Lawyer; Prof Dr Mohssen Massarrat, Political scientist and peace researcher; Monty Schädel, Former political director of the German Peace Society - United Opponents of Military Service (DFG-VK); Dr Muriel Gonzalez Athenas, Historian, University of Innsbruck; Dr Nikolaus Brauns, Historian and journalist; Nina Treu, Political scientist and freelance author; Prof. em. Dr Norman Paech, University of Hamburg; Prof. Dr habil. Peter Herrman, Researcher at the Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law, Central South University, Changsha, PR China; Prof Peter Ott, Merz Academy Stuttgart; Dr phil. Dr rer. med. Peter Ullrich, Senior Researcher, Technical University of Berlin; Peter Vonnahme, Retired judge at the Bavarian Administrative Court; Phil Butland, Senior Editor, theleftberlin.com; Dr Philipp Zehmisch, University of Heidelberg; Dr Rainer Werning, Political scientist & publicist; Reinhard Hauff, Pastor; Rita Belter, Lawyer; Roland Meister, Lawyer; Dr Rolf Gössner, Lawyer/publicist, member of the board of trustees of the International League for Human Rights; Prof Dr Rudi Schmidt, University of Jena; Rudolf Bürgel, Executive Committee of the Left Party Baden-Württemberg; Dr Stefan Meretz, Member of the Commons Institute; Stephan Kuhn, Lawyer; Susanne Ferschl, Member of the Left Party in the Bundestag; Thomas Kilpper, Artist, Berlin and Professor Art University in Bergen; Tim Engels, Lawyer; Dr Torsten Bewernitz, Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, ‘express’ editorial team; Prof Dr Udo Mayer, University of Hamburg; Prof Dr Ulrich Gottstein, Honorary board member of the medical peace organization IPPNW; Ulrich Tilgner, Retired journalist and non-fiction author; Prof Dr em. Urs Marti-Brander, University of Zurich; Ute Wellstein, Specialist in occupational medicine, member of the medical peace organization IPPNW; Uwe Friesel, author; Prof Dr Werner Ruf, Political scientist and peace researcher; Dr jur. Wolfgang Bittner, Author and publicist and Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Wolfgang-Fritz Haug, Berlin Institute for Critical Theory.