In Prison
Leyla Zana is a feminist and a Kurdish activist. She was the first female
Kurd to be a member of the Turkish Parliament. Zana is peacefully fighting
for recognition of the Kurds by the Turkish government, as well as for
their equal rights. She has been awarded for her admirable efforts by
numerous worldwide organizations, and is backed by the European Union,
Amnesty International, and many members of the United States Congress
advocated her release during the Clinton Administration. Zana has tirelessly
fought for reforms, not only on paper, but also bettering the day-to-day
lives of the Kurds. Leyla Zana is currently in jail.
The treatment of the Kurdish prisoners is intolerable. Zana, who has
osteoporosis and a malfunctioning liver, objects to the attacks and
intimidation that must be endured by government prisoners, and has rejected
medical treatment because of accompaniment to the hospital by soldiers.
Leyla Zana has served ten years of a fifteen year sentence, and chose
not to leave prison when offered freedom because of her unstable health,
but instead to remain until she is found innocent, and her goal true.
In the meantime, she has been furthering her studies, as supporters
managed to gain her a cell of her own. Zana is learning French to better
communicate with leaders such as Danielle Mitterrand, the wife of France's
late former president François Mitterrand, and the director and
founder of Fondation France-Libertés. Two years were added to
her prison term for writing a piece printed in a HADEP (People's Democracy
Party, a continuation of the illegal DEP) publication on the Kurdish
New Year.
Although according to Turkish law Zana's trial need not be reviewed,
having taken place before the law allowing reconsideration of trials
was passed, it is presently being reassessed. Leyla Zana does not belong
in a jail cell. She should be released, and the fact that the reviewers
of her trial did not chose this as their immediate course of action
is thoroughly disconcerting. Leyla Zana is an inspiring leader of her
people who has persevered, through torture and separation from her entire
family, in her struggle for equal rights. We are outraged at the government
of Turkey's actions. The world is inspired by the idea that her imprisonment
has called attention to her cause, and that more reforms have been made
than would have had she been treated justly.