Death of Fatma Tokay (Kose)
Date: 2nd Sept '02
Name: DHKC Article
THE 96TH LIFE IN THE DEATH FAST: FATMA TOKAY (KOSE)
August 31, 2002
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.
August 30, 2002
Halime Tokay
Older sister of Fatma Tokay (Kose)
(signature)
our e-mail address: hucreiskencedir@hotmail.com
Tel: 0 212 534 3151
Fax: 0 212 534 3811
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