The observers
Frozen pool and sticks: in Iran, detoxification cures between torture and humiliation
A video that emerged on Telegram on January 29 shows men being forced to swim one by one in a pool in freezing temperatures, while others are beaten with sticks. This is not a prison, but a drug addiction center in Iran, where this kind of practice is common. The video was filmed on January 13 at the Nourandishan drug rehabilitation center, where most of the former drug addicts were placed by court order. This center is located in Qalat, a village 45 kilometers from Shiraz, in central Iran. On January 30, the Shiraz prosecutor announced the arrest of five men in connection with this incident. In the image, we see drug addicts forced to swim in a frozen pool, while the outside temperature fluctuates between -3 and 2 degrees. Those who are hit with sticks also receive insults, “you son of a p…” one can hear in Persian in particular. The person filming comments: “Yeah, it’s another universe here, it’s Qalat”. On the centre’s official Instagram page, this is not really this reality that is highlighted, as these images show. “Drug addicts are so abused that many of them fall back into drugs after they get out of treatment.” In detoxification centers, violence is the norm, explains our Observer, Shamila P. (pseudonym), journalist specializing in addiction issues. She is very familiar with drug treatment centers in Iran, there are different centers in Iran, but they can be categorized into two main types: legal centers and illegal centers. The difference in fact is not that big: the illegal centers are less expensive, and offer additional services to the authorized centers. An illegal center will cost around 700,000 tomans for three weeks [environ 26,40 euros ] while approved centers will start from 900,000 tomans [environ 33,5 euros] [en Iran, le salaire moyen équivaut à 70 euros, NDLR]. In any case, families are generally asked to pay for four months, it is estimated that below, it is not effective. Violent methods are common in all types of centers. What we see in this video is part of an old belief that putting an addict in frozen water will aid the detoxification process. The beatings, the insults, it is commonplace in this kind of places. What is most shocking to me is that quite often those who commit these acts are themselves former drug addicts. Legally these centers are supposed to employ doctors, psychologists, but this is often not the case, there are a lot of ex-addicts who cannot find anywhere else to work. I will not surprise anyone by saying that the success of these centers is very moderate: drug addicts suffer such physical and psychological abuse, that many of them plunge back into drugs as soon as they get out of treatment.In 2014, the health authorities have confirmed the death of at least 39 people in treatment, but they linked them to “complications during the first days of detoxification.” No statistics exist for the illegal centers. A week before the publication of Qalat’s video, Iranian media had reported the death of a drug addict in a center, also near Shiraz. “Families can have a drug addict abducted and sent to a center” Our Observer continues: There is also an economic dimension to be taken into account: on average, it is estimated that a person dependent on a drug spends between 100,000 and 150,000 tomans per day [3,7 à 5,6 euros]. That’s way more than what they cost for a drug rehab. For a drug addict without means or his family, if it is not well off, illegal centers are the only solution. What is more, these illegal centers offer one more thing: while the approved centers ask drug addicts to subscribe to their program and only accept people with their free consent, the illegal centers do not impose this condition. And when an addict refuses to detoxify, families can outright have them abducted by center staff: they arrive in a van, with pepper spray, tasers, and literally abduct the addict, like a kidnapping. He is then transferred to the center, from where he will not be released until he is supposed to be free of his addiction. Many cases of violence and sometimes cases of death are not investigated. Families do not care about abuse, neither do the courts, and in the centers drug addicts are clearly taught not to talk to the police about what is going on – if the police have anything to do with it. to do. Iranian media reported on February 1 that a drug addict died during his capture and transfer to an illegal center, but our Observer believes that some centers offer appropriate services at affordable prices, usually operated by NGOs. Clinics also offer treatment, but generally very expensive. If an addict registers in a detoxification center, he incurs nothing. If a judge orders him to go there, he is required to do so. Heroin, opium and amphetamines A neighbor of Afghanistan, one of the largest producers of opium, heroin and amphetamine in the world, Iran is both a prime market for these products and a step in their path. to Europe. Each year, Iranian police seize up to 800 tonnes of narcotics, amounts unmatched elsewhere in the world. These narcotics are still very cheap in Iran. According to official statistics, around 4 million Iranians (3.3% of the population) have various addiction problems, alcohol, officially banned, is not taken into account in these calculations. With the violent economic crisis that the country is going through, the forecasts of experts on the evolution of consumption are pessimistic. >> READ ON THE OBSERVERS: Violence, suicide and addictions: an unprecedented economic crisis plunges Iranian society into the abyss Since 1997, drug users no longer risk the death penalty in Iran. This is not the case for traffickers, who face the death penalty from 2 kilos of heroin and 3 kilos of synthetic drugs. According to several human rights NGOs, hundreds of people have been executed over the past three decades for drug trafficking.
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