Elfazi Toral

 

ISTANBUL - Asrin Law Office lawyer Suzan Akipa, in her assessment of the importance of the ‘Right to Hope’ in the solution process, said: ‘Mr Öcalan needs to regain his physical freedom within the scope of the right to hope, and the power he has must meet with the society. All his rights must be recognised.’

 

The aggravated absolute isolation of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan in Imrali F Type High Security Closed Prison continues. The protests and activities launched to ensure the PKK Leader's physical freedom and to solve the Kurdish problem through democratic means continue uninterruptedly. The decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that Abdullah Öcalan's ‘Right to Hope’ has been violated is still on the agenda.

 

Asrin Law Office lawyer Suzan Akipa made evaluations on why the ‘Right to Hope’ is important in the solution process.

 

Suzak Akipa started her remarks by commenting on the ‘Right to Hope’ and said: "According to the current legislation in Turkey, both those whose death sentence has been commuted to aggravated life imprisonment and those sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for political “crimes” serve their sentences in prison for life. There is no provision in Turkish law that allows convicts in this category to be released. And there is also no exception to this regulation. However, it is also recognised under international law that such an execution regime in Turkey, i.e. life imprisonment, is torture. This is exactly where the right to hope comes into play. The right to hope is a right that regulates that a person held in a life imprisonment regime can regain his/her freedom after a certain period of time.

 

We say ‘regulates’ because it also gives the convict guarantees in this respect. For example, the convict executes his/her sentence knowing in advance that his/her situation will be reviewed, what the reasons for this are, who will make this arrangement and by what methods, and the right of appeal granted to him/her. In other words, the ‘Right to Hope’ is the legal name of the convict's ‘hope to get out one day’ since it stipulates a predictable execution regime."

 

Violation judgement

 

"The first case in which the ECtHR convicted Turkey within the scope of the ‘Right to Hope’ is Öcalan Case No. 2,” said Suzan Akipa and reminded that the Supreme Court found Abdullah Öcalan's life imprisonment in violation of the prohibition of torture and issued a violation decision in March 2014. Suzan Akipa said, "Subsequently, the Committee of Ministers, which is responsible for monitoring the fulfilment of the judgement of violation, took the file into the monitoring process and called on Turkey to make legal arrangements enabling the right to hope. Of course, in this process, the Committee of Ministers did not carry out an effective monitoring process. Despite legal and social demands, no effective monitoring process was carried out. After almost 8 years, it took it on its agenda for the first time towards the end of 2021 and for the second time towards the end of 2024. The government likewise did not fulfil any of the calls and demands of the Committee of Ministers. On the contrary, Turkey has taken a position in defence of the lifelong execution regime, let alone making the legal arrangement that allows the right to hope. In fact, the number of people sentenced to this penalty has gradually increased. The lifelong execution regime was expanded and deepened. And again, from the delayed, limited and inadequate presentation made by the government to the UN in 2024, we were able to learn that more than 4 thousand people were sentenced to life imprisonment. The number of those under arrest is also unknown."

 

‘Mr Ocalan must now be freed’

 

Suzan Akipa shared what important developments the implementation of the Right to Hope would pave the way for in the future in Turkey and said "There is a regime that was initiated with Mr Öcalan and is gradually deepening. This regime is against the law, conscience and morality in every aspect. In this context, the implementation of the right to hope requires first and foremost that Mr Öcalan be freed. And of course, with the change of this regime that originates from Mr Öcalan, it will also mean that the legislation in Turkey will change and Turkey will return to the law, in other words, it will mean that Turkey will give up the use of torture."