MY EXPERIENCE OF IMPRISONMENT AND TORTURE (tags)
I have been informed that the International Action Committee Stuttgart, an organization in which Turkish, Palestinian and German people work together, is holding this forum to commemorate Political Prisoners Day. Thus, I have been invited to speak on my experience of imprisonment and torture in the Philippines, together with two other former political prisoners who shall speak about their own experiences in Turkey-Kurdistan and Palestine. I thank the organizers for inviting me. And I wish to express my warmest greetings of solidarity to all those who are present and to all the people in organizations that are represented here. I have strongly wished to be with you tonight. But unfortunately, the Dutch authorities do not issue travel papers to me for attending this forum. We have to resort therefore to the audio-visual techniques that are available to us. As instructed by the organizers, particularly by Ms. Elsbeth Sureau, I intend to present to you the following: 1. a summary of my imprisonment and torture, 2. the reasons for imprisonment and the political situation then obtaining in my country, 3. the protest and resistance within and outside prison, and 4. the perspectives. I shall use 15 minutes to speak and let the German translation run for another 15 minutes. I shall answer your questions in the open forum.