Ocalan v Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights upheld complaints brought by Abdullah Ocalan the leader of the PKK currently imprisoned on Imrali Island in Turkey.

In a judgment handed down on 18 March 2014 in Applications 24069/03, 6201/06 and 10464/07, the Court found that Mr Ocalan’s conditions of detention until November 2009 had violated the prohibition on inhuman and degrading treatment contained in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights having regard, in particular, to the level of isolation he was subjected to.

The Court also found that the sentence of life imprisonment without parole imposed on Mr Ocalan violated Article 3 of the Convention.

In an earlier case decided in 2005 the Grand Chamber had found Mr Ocalan’s original trial to have violated Article 6 of the Convention and that the imposition of the death penalty upon him (prior to commutation to life imprisonment) had violated Article 3 of the Convention.

Timothy Otty QC acted as lead Counsel for Mr Ocalan.

A copy of the European Court’s press release containing further details of the judgment and the judgment itself are at www.echr.coe.int.