| Submitted by Tsiatsan on Monday, December 07 2009 |
That this house acknowledges the inhumane conditions of imprisonment endured by Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan under solitary confinement since 1999 on the Imrali island prison in the Mamara sea, Turkey; regrets Ocalan’s deleterious mental and physical condition suffered as a result of his inhumane conditions of imprisonment since that time; notes these conditions have included allegations in 1997 of heavy metal poisoning, the existence of exceptionally high levels of heavy metals in Ocalan’s blood, as evidenced by laboratory reports and confirmed by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT);
supports the findings of the CPT that Ocalan’s conditions of imprisonment contravene international law on the rights of the prisoner, and the CPT’s recommendations that Ocalan be moved; regrets that in moving Ocalan to a new prison, Turkey has provided conditions of imprisonment significantly worse than before; notes the new conditions of imprisonment including that, the cell is half the size previously and lacks air circulation, thus causing Ocalan severe breathing difficulties and loss of bodily functions; acknowledges reports from Ocalan and his lawyers that the current conditions are seriously deleterious to his health and life; urges the UK Government to request the CPT urgently conduct a visit and inspection; and urges the UK Government to put the utmost diplomatic pressure on Turkey to provide humane conditions of imprisonment to Ocalan.
