The UK offices of both Amnesty International and ITV have been occupied to protest the organisations’ silence over the prison conditions of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Thousands of people, many of whom are political prisoners in Turkey, are on indefinite hunger strike demanding the end of the isolation imposed on Öcalan. The Kurdish leader is currently being held in solitary confinement on İmralı prison island, where he is not allowed access to lawyers or family visits. His writings have been central to the progressive Rojava Revolution in northern Syria, which has put ecology and women’s liberation at the forefront of its struggle for communal democracy.
The occupation
Protesters entered the Amnesty building early on 24 April:
https://twitter.com/deniz_william/status/1121111789473804289
And they soon started a hunger strike in the building:
At this moment activists occupied @amnesty in #London and started a #HungerStrike!
Break the silence, #BreakTheIsolation and #SmashFascism!#LeylaGüven is not alone! 7000 hunger strikers in the prisons, in #Turkey, #Kurdistan, #Europe and #Canada are not alone! pic.twitter.com/xn7lBj5k7w— MLKP Turkey/Kurdistan (@MLKP_IB) April 24, 2019
The protesters want Amnesty to speak out more clearly about what is happening in Turkey:
BREAKING Socialist and Kurds occupying Amnesty International in London demanding them to act against fascism, solitary confinement and torture in Turkey, the demands raised by the ongoing hunger strikes @BBCNews @RTUKnews @lindseyhilsum @DailyMailUK pic.twitter.com/MGi0w8PXhE
— Kurdistan Solidarity Campaign (@KurdsCampaign) April 24, 2019
Kurdish & Turkish socialists at @AmnestyUK HQ in London who refuse to leave until Amnesty take up the case of torture in Turkish prisons which so far they are ignoring, despite evidence. They even denied evidence of the hunger strike – here is Leyla Güven visited by Leila Khaled! pic.twitter.com/sy667vsT7J
— Kurdistan Solidarity Campaign (@KurdsCampaign) April 24, 2019
By the evening, people announced they were staying the night and that Amnesty had agreed to meet them in the morning:
KURDS & FRIENDS are staying the night on hunger strike at Amnesty International HQ in London & will meet with Amnesty International officials in the morning to discuss position of @AmnestyUK towards the hunger strike. MEET 10am AT AMNESTY! #EndIsolation https://t.co/5xFvF04Dp1
— @Hevallo (@Hevallo) April 24, 2019
Amnesty International staff have just left many activists who occupied their offices today, to stay the night in their building. Amnesty staff left telling them were the toilets were etc and said 'See you in the morning.' Kurdish activists want @AmnestyUK to help #EndIsolation
— @Hevallo (@Hevallo) April 24, 2019
The group of protesters stated:
We call upon everyone to show solidarity with the occupation and grow the resistance. Our comrades have started [a] hunger strike in… Amnesty International’s building. It’s crucial for everyone to attend here right now to show solidarity with our comrades.
Solidarity
Meanwhile, other people occupied the offices of ITV:
BREAKING: KURDS AND FRIENDS ARE NOW OCCUPYING ITV OFFICES IN LONDON. IF YOU ARE LOCAL PLEASE TRY TO VISIT EITHER OF THE SITES BEING OCCUPIED. pic.twitter.com/OnALhjzWot
— Tevgera Ciwanên Şoreşger – London (@tcs_ldn) April 24, 2019
BREAKING NEWS. Kurds & friends in London have now also occupied the lobby of the main ITV News HQ in UK. Time to #EndIsolation of the Kurdish people and begin regular legal visits to Imrali Island. BREAK SILENCE! https://t.co/9V53AX5cx1
— @Hevallo (@Hevallo) April 24, 2019
The silence on Öcalan and the Kurdish hunger strikers must end. And Öcalan’s isolation must stop. The hunger strikers aren’t asking for special treatment for Öcalan. They want him to receive the same rights as other prisoners in Turkey; rights that he should already be entitled to under existing Turkish law. They are just asking for Turkey to respect its own legislation.
Amnesty urgently needs to speak out about Öcalan and the anti-Kurdish war crimes committed by the Turkish state in recent years. And we all need to raise our voices to support the hunger strikers’ demands.
Featured image via Twitter screengrab
