British police deatins Kurdish activists at Amnesty International protest, London, UK, April 26, 2019. Photo: Twitter
LONDON,— Kurdish activists Nahide Zengin and Mehmet Sait Y?lmaz, who have been on hunger strike for 44 days indefinitely, were attacked by the British police on Saturday.
British police attacked the activists carrying out a civil disobedience action in the premises of Amnesty International in London to protest the isolation on Turkey’s jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and detained 20 activists.
The police has taken into custody 20 activists protesting at the premises of Amnesty International. The protest was in solidarity with the hunger strike resistance demanding the end of isolation against Ocalan.
The protest action organized jointly by the Roj Women’s Assembly, the Union of Socialist Women, the Cultural Association of Migrant Workers (Gik-Der) and the Kurdish People’s Assembly began on Wednesday when a group of activists entered Amnesty International’s premises.
Meetings with Amnesty International executives gave no results.
Amnesty International executives closed the doors of the premises and put special security on the door. The use of toilets was forbidden to those inside. Those activists who were forced to leave the building to go to toilet were not allowed back in.
Activists given that they achieved nothing from the meeting with Amnesty International executives had decided to continue their protest until Monday. The activists criticised Amnesty poor stand, saying that the organisation’s behaviour is unacceptable. In fact for calling itself a humanitarian organisation, Amnesty has shown very little if none sensitivity towards the activists, especially those on huger strike for 43 days.
Amnesty International called the police at 1 urging them to empty the building. Police stormed into the building and attacked the activists who were handcuffed and detained.
Those in the building were taken into custody and outside activists were also attacked by the police.
Nahide Zengin and Mehmet Sait Y?lmaz, who have been on hunger strike for 44 days indefinitely, were attacked by the police. Nahide Zengin, whose health condition deteriorated and had been taken to hospital on Friday, refused treatment and was brought back to the action place. She was allowed into Amnesty premises.
Detainees were taken to different police stations in London, mainly in Barnet.
Many Kurdish politicians and activists are on hunger strike to protest against Ocalan’s prison conditions. Kurdish HDP lawmaker Leyla Guven, has been on hunger strike since November 8, 2018 calling for improvement in the prison conditions for Ocalan.
A large Kurdish community in Turkey and worldwide openly sympathise with PKK rebels and Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK group in 1974 and currently serving a life sentence in Turkey, has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and worldwide according to observers.
Ocalan, who was arrested 20 years ago, is serving a life sentence on Imrali island, close to Istanbul. Ocalan was caught in Kenya outside the Greek embassy in Nairobi on February 15, 1999 by Turkish secret service agents after attempting to seek asylum in Europe.
Kurds see Ocalan, called “leader of the Kurdish people” by his followers and “head of the PKK terrorist organisation and separatist leader” by Turkish officials and media, as a living symbol of the Kurdish cause in Turkey.
The PKK took up arms in 1984 against the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to push for greater autonomy in Turkish Kurdistan for the Kurdish minority who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 79-million population. More than 40,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish rebels, have been killed in the conflict.
Amnesty International and police condemned
Condemning Amnesty International’s approach to the protest, the British Kurdish People’s Council said: “We want to condemn the approach by Amnesty International and its answer to the peaceful action we were carried out.”
The statement added: “Amnesty International has in fact imposed isolation for three days on the activists. They have closed their doors to activists and even refused the use of toilets to those inside its premises. We were demanding Amnesty to act as it should do, given that it calls itself a human rights organisation. Instead of listening to this demand, Amnesty International tried to intimidate the activists first, and this morning, called the police. We, as the Kurdish People’s Assembly of Britain, condemn Amnesty International and its unethical and non-human approach. This approach is a smear for Amnesty International and they have made it clear that they are on the side of the oppressed.
We condemn the British police as well as the Turkish police. They have attached activists who have been on hunger strike for 44 days.”
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