Police repression was disproportionately violent and caused many injuries among the demonstrators and the public. Medic Teams took care of 326 injured persons : demonstrators and bystanders. Some of the injured persons needed emergency medical care (ambulance services), others were hospitalized later on. Most of the injured persons had light injuries such as hematomas and cuts. The numbers reported here severely undercount injuries, as many demonstrators did not seek medical help, were treated by their friends, or went directly to the hospital.

Medic Teams also reported many face and head injuries, including cranial trauma, caused by the police aiming for the head when shooting rubber bullets and striking with batons. This proves the inadequate and abusive exercise of violence by the police, due to the known risks of permanent or severe injury incurred when using rubber bullets [1] or striking with batons.

At around 5 PM, the police surrounded more than 500 people in a kettle, detaining them in a street and preventing them from leaving or seeking external help. People were forced to stay outside for more than 12 hours at temperatures dipping to 6°C overnight [2]. The majority of people held in the kettle were detained for hours. The police refused to provide any blankets or food. Water was withheld for more than 7 hours, when, after midnight, police distributed tea.

The intentional inaction of the police caused loss of consciousness among the demonstrators due to hypothermia and hypoglycemia in more than 20 cases. A case of severe hypothermia with a severe burn to the face caused by pepper spray and loss of consciousness required an urgent evacuation. The police physically assaulted and pepper-sprayed demonstrators who were already confined in the kettle, causing cranial trauma, bruises, and burns to the face. As they were also denied access to toilets, some
demonstrators peed behind a fence and were attacked by the police with pepper spray, causing burns to the genitals of a demonstrator.

The psychological impact of all these injuries is not quantifiable, but should be appropriately noted.
Some injuries necessitated hospitalization, and 2 ambulances were called :

• A person suffered a concussion and a deep lesion of the head (requiring stitches) due to the shot of a rubber bullet, which caused loss of consciousness.
• A person suffered severe hypothermia and severe burn to the face due to pepper spray, whichcaused loss ofconsciousness.
• 2 finger fractures, 1 possible rib fracture and 1 possible arm fracture were also reported due to the abusive use of batons from the police.
• A person suffered lesions to the eyes due to damages to their mask through the shot of a water canon.
• A person suffered eardrum perforation due to a water canon. The police aimed at them at a distance of 5 m, which propelled them 15 m through the air, which caused a loss of consciousness. They risk a permanent hearing deficit.
• Several people were physically assaulted with batons, causing hematomas on the legs, arms, flank, back, and head.
• Several people suffered lesions around the eyes and on the face because of blunt trauma caused byrubber bullets orwater canons.

We include a recapitulative table of all the injuries that Medic Teams treated, with a total of 326 injuries. Medic Teams also treated 50 injuries but didn’t specify their type. They are noted in the category “unclassified”.

We, the medics present at the demonstration, unequivocally condemn the immense police violence that was used against protesters and bystanders during and after the national Palestine demonstration in Bern on Saturday, the 11-10-2025.

Free Palestine