Council of
Europe Experts Meet Jailed Kurdish Leader
STRASBOURG, May 25, 2007 (AFP) -
Rights experts of the Council of Europe met jailed
Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan this week on a Turkish island after allegations
that he had been poisoned, the pan-European body said Friday.
"Aspects of this prisoner's situation considered by the
delegation included his conditions of detention, the application in practice of
his right to receive visits from his relatives and lawyers, and his state of
health," the council said.
Experts of the council's Committee for the Prevention of
Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visited Imrali
Closed Prison on Sunday and Monday.
The next day the delegation also held talks with Turkish
Justice Minister Fahri Kasirga and provided him with its preliminary
observations, a committee statement said.
The visit came after Kurds ended a 39-day hunger strike
in Strasbourg to press demands for an examination of their leader by independent
experts.
Ocalan's lawyers allege after having his hair analysed
that he had been poisoned, possibly by toxic metals.
The 58-year-old Kurdish leader was also said to have
been experiencing breathing and skin problems, as well as pains severe enough to
interrupt his sleep.
The allegations prompted Turkish authorities to order
new analyses which according to Turkish judicial officials found that they were
baseless.
The committee statement said that the CPT delegation
"examined the treatment of (Imrali Closed Prison's) sole inmate, Abdullah Ocalan".
The visit was carried out by head delegate Marc Neve, a
lawyer and CPT member, and Jean-Pierre Restellini, specialist in internal and
forensic medicine and also a CPT member.
They were assisted by Timothy Harding, psychiatrist and
director of the University Institute of Forensic Medicine, Geneva, and Fabrice
Kellens, Deputy Executive Secretary of the CPT.
On May 12, more than 14,000 Kurds expressed their
support for the hunger strikers in a Strasbourg protest. A petition launched
throughout Europe was signed by more than 100,000 people and backed by members
of the European Parliament.
