Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Terror reaches the villages
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Sixteen-year-old shepherd isa Kargllz endures torture
By Sinan' Yllmaz
Turkish Daily Nell'S
ANKARA- Sixteen-year-old shepherd Isa
Kar!!lh. from the village of Yaprakh ne?r
çan'km. suffered nin~ days of systel~atl.c
torture intlicted by. hiS employer SatIlnllS
Uysal and his son Omer Uysal because they
suspected him of having stolen .money.
Dunn!! his ordeal, KargJlI was subJected to
such torture method.s as h~ving bOIled e}gs
put under his armpIts, ~elhg suspendeu. 10
the air, beatings, and belOg dragged beh!nd
a truck. He was taken to Çanklfl Hospilal
for treatment but his ordeal did not end
there. .
isa. the son of a poor family, expenenced
a series of events resembling scenes from a
Turkish film. The story started when Isa
took over from his brother, who left to perform
his military service. as a shepherd
workino for Satilmis Uvsal. Eight days after
, he halstarted work. 'things began to go
wron!! for the new employee. Someone
stole TL 70 mIllion from Satilmis UysaJ and
Isa was suspected of the theft. Isa was
imprisoned in his employe( s barn, was
threatened and beaten. hot bOIled eggs :-vere
put under his anns. he was dragged behll1d a
horse and cart and his fin!!ernails were
pu lied out. He was also immersed in cold
water for three to four hours. When neighbors
heard of the incident the g~ndarmerie
were notified but the; Uysal famJly refused
to hand Isa over and fired at the gendamlerie.
Eventually isa Kaf!Dh was removed fr~m
the Uysal family and.taken to the h~spJtal
for treatment. SatilnllS Uysal and hIS son
were taken to Çankm prison with tn'eir
accomplice, another shepherd Murat
Soyda~.
Isa was safe for the time bein!!, but the
Uysal family had no intention ofgjvin!! up
and put a plan in motion to abduct Isa ham
the Cankm hospital. A cousin of the fami-
1y,s, Mustafa Uysal, entered the hospital
dressed in a doctor's gown but luckily Isa's
mother realized what was going on and
advised hospital staff who foiled the abduction
attempt. Isa' s doctors advised that he
should be transferred to Ankara's Numune
Hospital for further treatment, but the family
could not pay the TL 1.5 million requested
before admittance.
The Turkish Human Ri!!hts Foundation
has taken up the case and is meeting the
costs of Isa' s trealment. A medical report
issued on Jan. 17. 1993 described the
injuries as follows: cuts and bruises resulting
from beating, second degree burns,
under the arms. restriction of movement in
limbs and joints and extensive swelling of
the joints as well as partiallass of hearing
resulting from trauma.
Isa's nine-day ordeal did not end ther~.
Satilmis Uysal's relatives thre.at.ened !fIS
family and later offered TL 30 mJlhon to I~a
in order to have the char!!es dropped. Isa s
father refused the offe~r and asked the
Human Ri!!hts Foundation to refer him to a
I:lwyer which was done with the assistance
of the Çanklfl Human Rights Ass~ci.a}ion .
The Çankm public prosecutor has Il1Itlated
çpurt proceedings against Satllnll~ Uysal,
Omer Uvsal and Murat Soyda~ on charges
of life threatening assault and battery and
makingthreats to rape. The case will be
heard on Feb. 17. '
TDN'sSinan Yllmaz (L) with siXteen-year-old shepherd Isa Karglh, from the village of Yaprakh near Çanklrl
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