Dince September, Iranian youth have been protesting in the streets, schools and universities, yearning for a free life. The slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom” emphasizes the central role of women and summarizes the aspirations of Iranian men and women to another life. The response from the authorities is violent and the repression strongly targets schools, colleges and universities.
In this context, the place of the hospital and of all caregivers is central: to receive the injured, to treat them, to testify. However, the nursing staff, medical and paramedical, are constantly under threat from the authorities, in the very exercise of the care function.
The care of the injured is voluntarily prevented or delayed. They are arrested in emergency services or do not go to hospitals for fear of arrest, which constitutes a loss of opportunity and exposes them to the risk of permanent, even fatal, sequelae in a country where the first resort is the public hospital. Doctors are forced to issue false certificates, concealing, under pressure from the authorities, the origin of injuries and deaths. Caregivers who resist are threatened or arrested.
Death penalty or long prison terms
According to reports from human rights organizations and according to an estimate as of December 17, we deplore since September 16 at least 469 deaths including nearly 63 children and adolescents, and more than 18,000 arrests with death sentences or long prison sentences. The right of demonstrators to have access to appropriate care, the freedom and respect of medical staff in care establishments, and the proper use of ambulances for purely medical purposes are no longer respected.
Recently, our colleague, Dr. Hamid Ghare-Hassanlou, a radiologist, and his wife, Farzaneh, were arrested. They were sentenced following hasty trials, for acts they did not commit, without any evidence and without having been able to choose their lawyers, he to capital punishment and she to twenty-five years in prison.
Despite rumors that the execution sentence will be suspended, their fate remains highly uncertain. Many other innocent people, tried in similar conditions, were sentenced to death or long prison terms, and it is difficult to count their exact number, as the regime controls information. Majidreza Rahnavard and Mohsen Shakeri, aged 23, were executed.
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