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The
torture of forcible medical intervention has taken
another life
Fatma
Tokay (Kose) lost her life in Ankara Numune Hospital
on the 400th day of the Death Fast, after forcible
medical intervention was carried out on the 395th
day. She was born on September 14, 1967 in the mining
area village of Engen in Elazig Province (in eastern
Turkey). She was imprisoned as a DHKP-C Trial prisoner
on June 5, 1994, while in the final year of studying
in Hacetepe University's history department. She was
sentenced to 17 and a half years but was martyred
when she had three years left to serve.
She
was in Canakkale Prison at the time of the December
19-22 massacre (in the year 2000). Later she took
part in the 6th Death Fast Team in Kutahya E-Type
Prison. When her situation worsened she was moved
to Kutahya State Hospital and from there to Ankara
Numune Hospital, and while in the last of these Fatma
Tokay (Kose) lost her life on the 400th day as a result
of the torture of forcible medical intervention.
Here
is a document about forcible medical intervention.
It
was on the 399th day of the Death Fast and forcible
medical intervention had been performed. This is a
request to TTB (The Turkish Union of Doctors) from
the older sister of Fatma Tokay (Kose).
TO
THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CENTRAL BOARD OF THE TURKISH UNION
OF DOCTORS
My
sister Fatma Tokay (Kose) was on the 395th day of
the Death Fast and for this reason was in the emergency
wing of Ankara Numune Hospital.
My
sister was hospitalised about 20 days earlier, while
she was in Kutahya E-Type Prison. Afterwards she was
transported to Ankara. After being held for a time
in the ward for prisoners, on Monday August 26, 2002,
after fainting for a short period (even though she
came round shortly afterwards) she was taken to the
emergency department and intervention was carried
out while her hands and feet were shackled. Despite
all my attempts, in the first two days after intervention
was carried out I could not find anything out about
her situation.
On
August 28, 2002, I received permission to see her
for 15 minutes, but the view that greeted me was so
horrifying that I could not prevent myself from falling.
Because my sister Fatma and two men on the Death Fast,
Serdar Karabulut and Talat Sanli were in the same
room (note: in the culture existing in Turkey this
is even more objectionable than it would be in Western
countries). There were two soldiers at the door and
one in the room. My sister was stripped naked and
the sheets and blankets over her were damp with vomit
and blood. The cloths I had applied to her three days
previously were still there.
A
blood bag was attached to her left arm. Some devices
or other were connected to her right arm. Moreover,
her right arm was tied to the bunk with a green cloth.
A hole was pierced in her arm as a way of opening
a vein. In her right hip there was an open wound.
Three days before I had applied a dressing but no
dressings had been applied after that.
My
sister's feet had become very swollen some time before.
Moreover, she was completely unable to stretch out
her legs. In spite of this, she was chained most tightly
by the swollen part of her legs and was chained to
the bunk. The swellings where her legs were chained
were matched by the chains cutting into her flesh.
My
sister was naked and the sheets over her were damp,
and she was lying in front of a window while the door
was also open, and the air was continually circulating.
So my sister was also catching cold.
My
sister continually said that she was cold and wanted
to get dressed and that she felt bad, especially after
blood transfusions. She said she didn't want medical
intervention and wanted to be taken back to the prisoners'
ward where her friends are. At the end of 15 minutes
the soldiers said the visit was over and made me leave.
I
went to talk to the doctors and found no less than
five of them sitting in a room. When I asked them
about my sister's situation I was manhandled and told
to clear off. I said that her conditions are inhumane
and I'm not allowed to change her clothes and when
I demand to be allowed to change them, they said that
the necessary things will be done and that if I have
other complaints I can make them wherever I wish (ie.
they don't care). Later they drove me away and threw
me out.
Later
the staff told me that my card giving me permission
to be a refakatci (a companion who looks after a hospitalised
person) was cancelled and I would not be able to visit
my sister again.
The
doctors did not get back the pneumatic bed they wanted
from me.
I
am very anxious about what I saw and experienced and
the negative things in my sister's life and what she
might experience. Moreover, I am also concerned that
on the basis of the doctors' attitude, while the doctors
will not carry out intervention on my sister on health
grounds or with her approval, there is a possibility
that they might use her for medical experiments and
this is why I can't see her. For this reason I am
troubled.
On
account of the reasons I have cited above, I request
with all due respect that my sister's situation be
looked into, the nature of the intervention carried
out on her be determined, that my sister is protected
from doctors whose attitude is in no way humane, that
the necessary steps be taken against doctors who have
no respect for medical ethics or any rules whatsoever,
and that you do what is necessary to determine the
situation of my sister so that we can make use of
our legal prerogatives.
Halime
Tokay, older sister of Fatma Tokay (Kose)
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