Three Days in a Body Bag to Avoid the 'Final Shot': A Horrific Account of an Injured Protester from the Kahrizak Morgue

The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center has released a new report recounting one of the most shocking narratives of the recent nationwide protests suppression in Iran; a story of an injured protester who hid for three days inside a body bag in Kahrizak to avoid the regime's final shot. According to this organization, a family spent three days searching for their son, who had left home to join the protests and did not return. They first checked hospitals, then Behesht Zahra cemetery, and finally the Kahrizak morgue. In the Kahrizak area, where images of long lines of body bags of protesters have been widely circulated in recent days, the family had to search among a multitude of corpses for any sign of their child. The report states that they eventually found their son alive among the plastic body bags, severely injured from gunshot wounds, abandoned in a body cover. This injured protester remained motionless inside the bag for three days without food or water, fearing the 'final shot' from security forces, so he would be considered dead. The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center states that after three days of wandering between hospitals, cemeteries, and security centers, the family was able to retrieve their son from among the corpses in Kahrizak and transfer him to a hospital for treatment. This organization emphasizes that this account simultaneously presents a rare image of survival amidst death and a horrifying portrayal of how the injured are treated and the overwhelming pressure on families to access medical care. The report also notes that due to severe internet outages and restrictions in Iran, there is currently no possibility for independent and media verification of this account. However, the publication of images from the Kahrizak morgue and the multitude of body bags has reinforced the dimensions of the violence of the crackdown. Images and videos released from the Kahrizak forensic area show long rows of black bags, which, according to media and human rights organizations, contain at least hundreds of protesters' bodies. Some of these bags reveal labels indicating injuries from direct gunfire and even the ages of the victims, including teenagers. The nationwide protests in January 2025 have emerged from years of political dissatisfaction, structural corruption, and a lack of democratic mechanisms that have severely eroded public trust in government institutions and called the regime's legitimacy into question. Alongside political demands, the deep economic crisis, inflation, the collapse of the national currency, and widespread corruption have played a significant role in igniting successive rounds of protests. This combination of factors, along with brutal repression, internet shutdowns, arrests, and the killing of protesters, has led a large segment of society to view the government as not only unaccountable but also lacking political and moral legitimacy. The United States has officially supported Iranian protesters on several occasions and condemned the ruling regime in Iran for its brutal crackdown, internet shutdowns, and the killing of protesters. Donald Trump, the former President of the United States, in one of his latest statements regarding the bloody suppression of protests, wrote on social media that America stands with the people of Iran and warned against the 'killing of protesters.' The U.S. Department of State: The Islamic Republic regime has waged war against the people of Iran. Killings in the Dark; Report on the Bloody Suppression of Protests in Iran Amid Communication Blackouts. Senator Markwayne Mullin: Trump is not bluffing; his patience with the Ayatollah will run out. Warning from the Narges Mohammadi Foundation about mass killings in Iran; the continuation of repression under the shadow of internet shutdowns.