Doctors from Shariati Hospital in Mashhad, Iran, gather in support of the protesters on December 4, 2022. On the placards: “Free the health professionals”, “No to the execution-free doctor Gharehasanlou” as well as “Last year’s health workers were heroes, this year they will be accused of bringing corruption to earth.” “DAS WORLD” DOCUMENT
From the first days of the wave of protests in Iran, triggered by the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, on September 16, when a large number of protesters in police custody injured their eyes because of a “worn” veil in the hospital where Fariba (a pseudonym to protect the data subject) works as a doctor. Together with his colleagues and the head of the Department of Eye Diseases and Surgery, it was decided at the end of September to set up a system to protect the injured from possible arrest by the secret services.
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“Our hospital is private and most of the injured protesters who came to our home had just escaped from a university or public hospital where agents working for the services are ubiquitous,” explains this 40-year-old Iranian. We have chosen not to mention words like “balls”, “shrapnel” in the reports of these patients. Instead, we put “blunt trauma” and “occupational accidents”. »
Fariba and his colleagues also decided to treat these injured people free of charge. They have taken care of around 100 people so far. “This figure shows that hitting protesters with both plastic and rubber bullets is very common in crackdowns in Iran. Those who take photos know exactly what they are doing,” explains Fariba. According to human rights organizations, this wave of repression has already killed at least 503 civilians. The number of injured cannot be estimated yet.
Lifeless body of a doctor
Outside the hospitals, many doctors come to the aid of patients affected by the demonstrations individually. Hossein (also a pseudonym), who works from his office in a slum in southern Tehran, often posts on his Instagram page, followed by his patients, that he can visit the homes of people injured in a demonstration.
With the help of his relatives, the 38-year-old family doctor set up a health insurance fund to provide medical care to these injured people. On Instagram, the doctor also teaches in descriptive terms how to treat minor wounds, treat broken limbs and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
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On the days when there is a demonstration, Hossein goes onto the street with a colleague or two, taking a few syringes, saline solution and sterile compresses with him. “In the first few weeks, he says, we were dealing with people who had been tear gas inhaled or beaten with clubs, most of them on the head. But the demonstrators quickly had lead shot more often [cartouches pour la chasse] in the neck, in the head and in the abdomen, shot very close. In these cases we don’t have time to take care of it. You will be arrested very quickly. »
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