Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive):“Hello, Ahmad…Hello, where are you..it’s a disaster, a disaster.. I can’t believe what I see!” those were the words of detained medic Amine Jaafar Aswad (born in 1975) as he talked to his colleague only on the first day of the Pearl square attacks, the dawn of February 17, 2011.
 
On that day, the wounded and injured were streaming into the Salmaniya hospital. According to Amine’s friends, also medics and members of the medical staff, all the hospital administrative persons were there, providing the injured with first aid and medical services.
 
Still, some of the hospital employees denied their role in helping the wounded as soon as the military forces broke into the hospital, as they feared punitive repercussions. On another hand, some others turned into assistants to the military administration that was set up.
 
As for Amine, he stayed away from the limelight, he never stepped foot on the platform in the Pearl square with the other doctors and paramedics the first time they attended the square, even though Chief Doctor Ali Al Akri urged him to. Amine had no political interests, he was never an outlaw, his friends joked about him being ‘a chicken’ and that he has been running away from tense events throughout the nineties that was the decade that encompassed the youth generation to which Amine belonged. During that period, Amine saw his friends and family members dragged to detention centers 9due to political activity). And so, he had an ordinary life, he was loved by everyone. Not once did he expect that a different stage awaits him in life.
 
Since the very first days to the fall of casualties, Amine determined his path. Many were surprised to see the change that took over his life. Putting his life and safety aside, Amine had no worries other than to fulfill his job. “Being a medic is part of my life, and I will not let go this humanitarian responsibility, no matter what happens to me. In addition to his work shift, Amine spends more than 8 hours treating patient’s wounds and following on the cases arriving to the hospital as well as in the first aid tent in the Pearl Square. He never received extra wage, neither did he demand for that. Even his own business ( a restaurant which his sister took care of during that phase) has been negatively affected, but he did not care.
 
One relative summarizes Amine’s story, he says “Amine wore his uniform all the time. We rarely saw him in his regular outfits. He was always ready to provide medical aid during all marches and demonstrations Bahrain witnessed in February and March.” All were surprised to see him in non-stop action and activity.
 
Amine’s colleague described the scene saying “Amine transported the casualties-at the end of Al Diwan march, from the outskirts of the area all the way to the health center in Aali. Amine was in constant motion. For hours, Amine would carry the injured and rescue them while his tears would roll down his cheeks silently.”

Also, the horrific scenes Amine saw everyday were imprinted in his mind, and would not leave his memory not even a second. Family members pointed out that after he would arrive home, he would always gaze and utter with words “How can that happen? Was that a dream?”


Sitra Battle
 
On the day the emergency law was declared and the Peninsula Shield Forces entered Bahrain, one day before the second attack on the Pearl Square, Al Salmaniya hospital received distress signals from Sitra region, which the forces invaded at noon. The atmosphere was terrifying; the Saudi army was deployed in the region backed by multinational forces and civil militia forces. The news coming from there (Sitra) was about victims and massacres in the streets. The attack on Sitra health center and the photo of martyr Ahmad Farhan were enough explanation to what was happening there.
 
Amine did not hesitate in fulfilling his duty and answering the calls of distress. He and the driver prepared and equipped the ambulance, and took off along with two volunteers, a nurse and a doctor. That doctor was Hanin Al Bousta, daughter of the leftist Ahmad Al Bousata. Arriving to Sitra was a dangerous task, death was in the air. “I remembered what Doctor Ali Al Akri said about the atmosphere in Gaza when he visited it. We entered Sitra, it was a real war zone.
 
As soon as the ambulance arrived into the region, the military forces chased and stopped it. At the beginning, they popped the ambulance tires to stop it totally from moving. Then they made us get off the ambulance and harshly hit us as if they wanted to kill us, the weapons were right over our heads all the time, Amine said. Dr. Hanine was verbally assaulted and was threatened of sexual assault. Now because he is a paramedic and in charge of the ambulance, Amine had the biggest share of the assault, and so he suffered a permanent break in the second disk of his neck- a lucky injury in medical terms. It could have caused him permanent paralysis. The ambulance crew members were handcuffed with plastic wires-hands behind their back- and left them on the ground then evacuated the place which was full of youths chanting and protesting.
 
Then, a group of Sitra’s young men approached the medical team and rescued them in what an eye witness described as “evacuating victims at battle”. The team was then transported to a home where they were surprised to see themselves surrounded by little crowds of injured people who came to help them.
 
An eye witness describes the scene saying “It was unbearable. The injured and wounded filled the place. One of them was targeted on his eye by a “Shozon” explosive bullet and had blood all over his face. Right next to him were the injured medical staff members, who were unable to do anything. Amine lied on the floor, his body filled with wounds, and in critical shape. He adds, “The doctor was in total shock, she was in panic as she said that Amine’s blood pressure started to grow weaker. She was trying to do something, but there were no medical equipment while the place was filled with the blood of the wounded.
 
Despite the harsh conditions, the civilians were able to take the medical team out of the region. The vehicle survived the forces deployed everywhere, and arrived to the Salmaniyah hospital.
 
As soon as the medical team arrived, their colleagues gathered around their injured friends who were totally disconnected during that period. Amine was admitted to Resuscitation Unit after X-rays. Amine’s doctor said he should wear a neck collar for six months, and treated the other bruises and injuries in his body and was given analgesics, then taken to a private wing.
 
Amine’s colleagues said his spirits remained high, and that he said he felt sorry for no longer being able to play his role as a paramedic due to the injury.
 
He always asked about the news, about the readiness of the paramedics and the treatment of the patients that filled every corner of the hospital.


Running Away from Hospital
 
On the next day, the 17th of March 2011, the forces along with the Saudi army surrounded the Salmaniyah hospital, and took control of it imposing a blockade on the building. The employees were ordered to leave the hospital building.
 
One paramedic says that words are inadequate to describe the situation. “Two days to the beginning of the blockade, the food ran out, we no longer had clothes or basic needs,” he described adding “We were surprised, we were not expecting that they will surround the hospital and that the medical team as well as the injured would be fiercely assaulted. An Egyptian doctor was randomly hit and I saw him bursting into tears and whispering “I am a doctor, how could they do this to me.” Masked soldiers were everywhere inside the hospital, we saw different weapons. All the hospital gates were shut, except for the emergency gate. In the parking lot, more than 100 cars were sabotaged and wrecked as the soldiers intentionally attacked them. Inside the hospital, there were three checkpoints, while there were another four checkpoints outside. The searching process was very personal and humiliating by all means. They would ask for the ID, and the time of departure would be registered. Then each soldier would hold a name list and match the names with the queues of those leaving the hospital premises.
 
Two days after the attack, the paramedic Amine was luckily able to leave the hospital. The doctors who cooperated with the military administration refused to give the injured and wounded permits to leave. Some of these doctors even attended the ongoing meetings the soldiers held inside the hospital, as they received the order from the soldiers.
 
Despite his unstable health condition, Amine decided to leave the hospital without an official leave permit. He had figured out that the army soldiers that took control of the hospital wanted to punish all those who took part in delivering first aid to the injured protesters, and the new administration was negligent of the health status of the patients.
 
Days after he was out, a security patrol arrived to his home in the Aali neighborhood. They did not find him there, but asked his mother to tell him he has to give himself in. after a few hours, they called him on his mobile phone and ordered him to give in. his family members were worried, he was injured and his case was critical, he needed special care, but he headed to the investigations center.
 
Since his arrest at the end of March, there is no news about him. His wife and sister’s daily calls to ask about him were useless, and they were unable to know anything about his condition.  They would tell them (His wife and sister) that “Abu Rakba” –sarcastic nickname for the guy with the broken neck—is fine and that he does not suffer of health issues. Lately, they were able to identify that Amine is in the “Hawd al Jaf” prison. The detainees that were set free from that particular prison said he was fine without any further detail. He was not seen by his family until he was referred to prosecution with a group of doctors, nurses, and paramedics.
 
Amine used to sleep in the ambulance most of the time. He had stopped playing snooker, his favorite game, since the beginning of incidents. He gave all his time and effort to his career that he loved. To all those around him, he says he does not regret one moment for fulfilling his humanitarian duty. His wife Fatima and his son Hussein and Mohammad await his return with so much passion and pain, but they are proud of him!