Aida Rostami

Aida Rostami
Bornc. 1986
DiedMonday, December 12, 2022
Tehran
Cause of deathKilled by Iran security forces
NationalityIranian
Known forHealthcare activism related to the Mahsa Amini protests

Aida Rostami (Persian: آیدا رستمی; c. 1986 – Monday, December 12, 2022) was a 36-year-old Iranian physician who was allegedly kidnapped, fatally beaten, and killed by security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran for treating protesters who were injured during the Mahsa Amini protests.[1][2] In light of rising demands and threats on Iranian hospitals and medics to assist security forces in the middle of the protests,[3][4][5][6][7][8] Aida Rostami has emerged as an inspirational figure among medics associated with the Mahsa Amini protests.[9][10][11][12][13]

Background

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There has been a nationwide protests in Iran following the death of 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who was arrested and killed while in the custody of the Guidance Patrol, the religious morality police of Iran's government, on September 16, 2022.[14] During these protests, Islamic Republic security forces killed hundreds of protestors and detained and wounded thousands more.[15][16][17] Iranians injured by security forces during protests avoid seeking care in the country's increasingly dangerous hospitals for fear of being arrested, tortured, prosecuted, or murdered. Medics willing to take risks to assist the wounded are treating protestors at their workplaces, demonstrators' houses, or elsewhere.[18][3] Rostami was treating demonstrators in Tehran's Ekbatan and other western districts of Tehran.[1]

Incident

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On the evening of Monday, December 12, 2022, at seven o'clock, Rostami called her mother from the Chamran Hospital, where she was employed. She asked her mother if she needed anything on her way home. However, she did not come home. The next day, her family received a call from the police station located in the Ekbatan neighborhood of Tehran, requesting that they come to the station. They received a letter notifying them that Aida Rostami had passed away as the result of an accident and instructing them to get her dead body from the Forensics Office. Her family saw that her body with a smashed face, a broken arm, and an enucleated left eye. According to the Forensics death report, the cause of death was being hit by a hard object.[1][2][19][20] When asked about the unexplained hard item, they said that details will be provided later. "The medical examiner told her family that they were ordered not to reveal the true cause of Aida's death. They said that she did not die in a car accident, they killed her." Local sources who examined her dead body told the IranWire on December 16.[21] A member of her family told IranWire, "It is not possible that when you are driving and you get an accident, both of your hands would break, your lower torso gets bruised, and your eye completely comes out."[21]

On December 16, 2022, Mizan, the news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran's judicial system, said that Aida Rostami's lover threw her down a bridge.[22][23] Iranian authorities have frequently adopted similar storylines for young women who died during the Mahsa Amini protests, such as Nika Shakarami.[24][25]

Responses

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Aida Rostami appearing in a mural commemorating the victims of the Islamic regime in Iran, in Nazareth. (third from the left up)

On December 19, 2022, an alliance of german medical organizations condemned the "murder" of Dr. Aida Rostami for "providing medical care to protesters".[26] They also published an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, expressing solidarity with Iranian medical professionals and their grave concern "about the human rights and medical situation facing the civilian population of Iran."[6][26]

Several personnel of the Iran's healthcare system indicated on social media that they would go on strike in protest of Aida Rostam's death.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Tehran Doctor Tortured And Killed For Treating Wounded Protesters". iranwire.com. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "جسد آیدا رستمی، پزشک جوان هنگام تحویل آثار شکنجه داشته است". ایران اینترنشنال (in Persian). December 17, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Engelbrecht, Cora (November 19, 2022). "Hundreds of Protesters in Iran Blinded by Metal Pellets and Rubber Bullets". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  4. ^ Tabrizy, Nilo; Jhaveri, Ishaan (November 23, 2022). "How Iran's Security Forces Use Ambulances to Suppress Protests". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  5. ^ "Iran's doctors have joined the uprising — and are paying the price". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  6. ^ a b "جامعه پزشکی آلمان درباره "فاجعه انسانی" و "امنیت جانی" مردم ایران هشدار داد". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  7. ^ "اعتراضات ایران؛ رئيس انجمن پزشکان داخلی: سال ۵۷ هم اطلاعات بيماران را می‌خواستند". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  8. ^ ""صدها معترض در ایران بر اثر شلیک کور شده‌اند"؛ ۲۳۰ چشم‌پزشک هشدار دادند". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  9. ^ "Firouz Daneshgari: 'Night doctors' and other unsung heroes of the protests in Iran deserve our support". Chicago Tribune. January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  10. ^ Jones, Charlie (December 19, 2022). "Iranian doctor dies after being tortured for treating anti-government protesters". mirror. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  11. ^ "Iran Protests: Doctor, who treated injured anti-Hijab demonstrators, tortured and killed in Tehran". Free Press Journal. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  12. ^ BTT (December 17, 2022). "Aida Rostami, a doctor treating insurgents in Iran tortured to death". Economy, Business, Politics and Travel in Turkey. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  13. ^ "Tehran: Aida Rostami, the doctor who treated injured protesters, tortured and killed". L'Unione Sarda English. December 17, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  14. ^ Yee, Vivian; Fassihi, Farnaz (September 26, 2022). "Women Take Center Stage in Antigovernment Protests Shaking Iran". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  15. ^ "End the protest bloodshed in Iran". Amnesty International. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  16. ^ "UN Human Rights Council to investigate violence against Mahsa Amini protestors in Iran". www.jurist.org. November 25, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  17. ^ Ochab, Dr Ewelina U. "How Iran Underestimated The Outrage Over The Killing Of Mahsa Amini". Forbes. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  18. ^ Arraf, Jane (November 17, 2022). "Riddled With Metal Pellets, an Iranian Protester Heals in Hiding Abroad". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  19. ^ "جزییات تازه از مرگ مشکوک آیدا رستمی، پزشک معترضین اکباتان". iranwire.com (in Persian). Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  20. ^ "دکتر #آیدا_رستمی ۲۱ آذر از کلانتری #اکباتان تماس میگیرن با خانواده میگن تصادف کرده و فوت شده ..." Twitter (in Persian). Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  21. ^ a b "Killed Tehran Doctor: Family Pressured To Appear On TV, Lie About Cause Of Death". iranwire.com. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  22. ^ فردا, رادیو. "علت رسمی یک مرگ مشکوک دیگر "سقوط از بلندی" اعلام شد". رادیو فردا (in Persian). Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  23. ^ "علت درگذشت آیدا رستمی مشخص شد | چه کسی خانم دکتر را کشت؟". همشهری آنلاین (in Persian). December 16, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  24. ^ "Iran claims teen Nika Shakarami died in a fall. Her mom doesn't believe it, and either do protesters". www.cbsnews.com. October 7, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  25. ^ Pourahmadi, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Katie Polglase, Adam (October 27, 2022). "What really happened to Nika Shahkarami? Witnesses to her final hours cast doubt on Iran's story". CNN. Retrieved December 17, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ a b "Die Ärztin #AidaRostami wurde ermordet, weil sie Protestierende medizinisch versorgte!". Twitter (in German). Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  27. ^ "اعضای کادر درمان برای اعتصاب ۲۸ تا ۳۰ آذر در اعتراض به کشته‌شدن آیدا رستمی فراخوان دادند". ایران اینترنشنال (in Persian). December 17, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
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