By Teele Rebane, CNN
Arash says he is adept at spotting Iranian law enforcement officials in civilian clothes.
The doctor says they go to the emergency room of the public hospital where he works as a general practitioner to search for others injured in protests that have swept the country since Mahsa Amini, 22, died in the custody of the moral police after being accused of breaking Iran’s conservative dress code.
Arash, 30, goes to great lengths to thwart undercover agents, giving false names to others she deals with or flatly refusing to help.
He is one of the Iranian doctors and nurses who are endangering their own freedom, and in all likelihood their lives, by helping protesters, either by treating them on the front lines of protests or by hiding the nature of their injuries as they seek redress in public hospitals. .
And with the Iranian government authoritarian in its efforts to silence the protests, many want your help.
It is unclear precisely how many protesters have been killed or injured since Amini’s death in September, and teams gave other estimates.
Iran Human Rights, which was founded in Norway, estimates that at least 201 protesters died from injuries sustained in clashes with security forces; Iran’s state-affiliated media said the death toll at the end of September was 60.
The Arash hospital treats only a fraction of the wounded, but says it sees a “wave” of others seeking help every time a protest takes place, whether they are authentic protesters or plainclothes police looking for injuries their own colleagues may have. Caused
And while few of those seeking remedy would blatantly admit to attending the protests, the nature of their injuries — lead wounds and bruises from canes are not unusual — are telltale symptoms that are easily detected through undercover agents pursuing them and doctors like Arash.
When he’s not running in the hospital, Arash goes to protests to provide first aid, despite the dangers to his own safety.
“I can’t bear to do nothing to help my countrymen,” says Arash. CNN agreed to use a pseudonym to protect his identity because he feared government retaliation.
He and other doctors like him do their job to treat minor injuries on the spot, but in more serious cases, he says, “we make sure they don’t die and then rush them to the emergency hospital. “
Since concern about arrest deters many protesters from brazenly seeking help, those who suffer serious injuries face a choice: “Spend the next 10 years of my life in a crime or let this damaged femur heal on its own,” like Dr. Kayvan Mirhadi, an Iranian-American doctor founded in New York State. he says.
Mirhadi’s deputy injured protesters who touch him on Instagram with Iran-based doctors who are willing to do so, and can be trusted to shut down.
When the protests began, Mirhadi’s inbox was flooded with cries for help. The doctor was stunned by the messages, accompanied by images of gunshot wounds, damaged bones and open heads.
“Salam doctor. . . What to do with all those little balls?. . . The hospital is full of uniformed police. As soon as we enter, they will prevent us. If the bullets are left inside, is it dangerous?”? Doctor, for God’s sake, please answer me,” one message read.
Mirhadi says he receives more than 500 messages a day. Many still do not read.
Giving and receiving assistance can be harmful to both sides: protesters worry that doctors will report them to the police, while doctors threaten to be ambushed because police pose as protesters’ help. No one knows who to trust.
About a week ago, Mirhadi says one of his doctor friends was arrested for treating protesters.
“He tried to help as much as he could. . . Getting in his car to Tehran to locate the user who was bleeding inside the space and try to stabilize him,” Mirhadi said.
“He’s a doctor, he didn’t do anything wrong. “
CNN has reached out to Iran for comment on the apparent arrest of protesters in hospitals, but has not heard back.
Mirhadi believes that giving or receiving reparation for injuries deserves not to be a matter of policy, but a fundamental human right.
But at least for now, many protesters, apart from those seriously injured, feel they still have no options to hide.
CNN spoke to others who had refrained from going to the hospital and instead sought help from friends or family with medical experience.
“Luckily, my sister is a doctor. He brought me medicines like ointment, serum and tablets to make my wounds heal,” says Amir, 18. CNN agreed to use a pseudonym for his identity because he feared government retaliation.
“I couldn’t get to the hospital or call the emergency room. They use ambulances to arrest and detain people. No office in the world has done it, yet they did it in Iran,” he adds.
For Arash, the general practitioner of the public hospital, there is a patient who will leave his mind.
Five days ago, he said a 16-year-old woman was taken to the emergency room through a protesters’ organization. She had been hit on the head with a cane and suffered a “massive” hemorrhage and concussion.
He rushed to emergency surgery, but died anyway.
Some protesters have become faces of the motion after paying the final price, but in this case, the girl’s circle of relatives chose not to make her death public.
“That’s why she’s stuck in my mind,” says Arash. “Because she deserves to be alive, at least in my memory, and to be there freely. “
El-CNN-Wire™
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