Kurdish activists and friends have been occupying Amnesty International headquarters in London since Wednesday to shed light on the Kurdish hunger strikes.
More than 7,000 people, mainly political prisoners jailed in Turkey, are on indefinite hunger strike to demand Kurdistan’s worker’s Party leader, Abdullah Ocalan, the right to visits by his lawyers and family.
Ocalan has been detained since 1999 and has not been allowed to see to his lawyer since 2011 and his family since 2016.
They have demanded that Amnesty International call upon the Turkish government to respect the human rights of their citizens and to end the isolation and solitary confinement of political prisoners including Ocalan.
The Kurdish activists have also demanded that Amnesty International make an urgent appeal to the world regarding the actions of the Turkish government regarding these issues.
Activists who occupied the London HQ said, “we call upon everyone to show solidarity with the occupation and grow the resistance. Our comrades have started hunger strike in the amnesty International’s building. It’s crucial for everyone to attend here right now to show solidarity with our comrades.”
Some activists at the have already been on hunger strike for 40 days.
Amnesty International released a statement in response to the protest at their office.
“Amnesty International considers this a legitimate, and so far, peaceful protest.
Amnesty International is a fully independent organisation and does not accept instructions from any group. However, we have received some specific information from the protesters about potential rights violations and Amnesty International is working to verify this information.”
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