“Do it yourself and never speak to a nurse!” an ISIS member shouted at T.A., a radiologist at Ibn Sina Hospital in the strategic coastal town of Sirte, (where ISIS still maintains control), when the latter asked a female nurse colleague to pass him an X-ray cord underneath a patient while he was holding him up in an intensive care (IC) unit.
“Do it yourself and never speak to a nurse!” an ISIS member shouted at T.A., a radiologist at Ibn Sina Hospital in the strategic coastal town of Sirte, (where ISIS still maintains control), when the latter asked a female nurse colleague to pass him an X-ray cord underneath a patient while he was holding him up in an intensive care (IC) unit.
Dr. T. A. says that ISIS members prevent male employees from speaking to women in the hospital and impose sharia uniform. They also did not respect the staff’s need for rest –calling them even on weekends and after midnight – most of the staffers dare not reject the orders.
Work or be detained
Dr. A. M., a female gynecologist said that any staff member who stayed away from work would be arrested by ISIS police. Dr. A. M. says working in the hospital is no longer possible. She stayed for a long time because the public had no other healthcare facility but due to the current situation (especially poor sterilization and lack of nursing staff), she left the hospital and the city.
A former hospital administrator says that ISIS imposes working hours on all medical staff in Sirte and forces female staffers to wear Sharia dress (a loose abaya – floor-length dress— and a veil covering the face).
In November 2015, ISIS detained four medical staffers at an ISIS detention center (formerly the central bank headquarters in downtown Sirte) because they had been absent from work. They were later released after signing a pledge.
International ISIS medical staff
A Sudanese chief of staff, Abu Malek is one of four ISIS doctors in the hospital. The other three are a Tunisian in charge of the IC unit, and an Egyptian in charge of medicine, and a Libyan graduate attendant.
ISIS affiliated doctors do not treat the general public, even in emergencies. They only take care of ISIS members. According to Dr. A. M., ISIS brought Egyptian members to work in the labs. They may serve the public but not free of charge, as they previously had.
ISIS currently controls the operating ward (male and female), the pediatric ward, IC unit, and the private ward. All are used exclusively by ISIS members and even the medical staff may not enter them without a permit.
Medicine invasions
ISIS provides medicines through what they call “invasions” where ISIS members loot government vehicles transporting medicine along the coastal line, under the pretext that “it is an infidel state” according to T. A. They also buy medicines from pharmacies in Sirte but often do not to pay the dues.
ISIS also seized control of the hospital drugstore and moved its contents to the ISIS-controlled wards, leaving citizens without medicine, under the pretext that “the medicines should be for the mujahedeen.”
Governmental gap
Although Libya’s Government of National Accord launched a military operation against ISIS forces this past May, clashes continue and hospital manager Younas Ben Sharrada is trying hard to find aid from international organizations to develop a plan to resume treatment services.
Local authorities in Sirte have also declared that they are continuously contacting the government agencies as well as the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and there are ready plans in cooperation with the competent authorities to urgently provide various humanitarian needs for Sirte.
