Posts tagged torture victim

Wounded Syrians Arrive in Jordan

A specialized Doctors Without Borders surgical team performs operations in a hospital in nearby Amman. Dr. Mohamed, a member of the team, came to Ramtha to determine whether any of the new arrivals were in need of orthopedic surgery. “The wounded people we see here have already received urgent care in Syria,” he says. “They usually have old wounds that date back several weeks or months.”

The refugee camps in Ramtha are more like transit camps, and Syrians generally do not stay very long. Dr. Mohamed visits Ramtha every few days. He gives his telephone number to the wounded patients he sees so that they can contact him when they reach Amman and arrange to be seen.

The wounded all have stories to tell. Twenty-five-year-old X*. lifts his polo shirt to show angry purple-red marks on his back. His arms were also lacerated when he was hit with rubber cables after being arrested while participating in a demonstration in Deraa. He says he was tortured in prison, where he remained for 17 days before he was transferred to Damascus. He was freed en route during an attack by the Free Syrian Army and immediately set out for Jordan.

*Names withheld to protect patient identity.