PARIS: Hospitals are no longer places of safety as Iran’s crackdown on anti-government protests impacts all aspects of life, rights groups say, with authorities arresting wounded protesters and even the medics who treat them.
Activists accuse security forces of killing thousands of people and wounding more by directly firing on protests, often with birdshot that can leave metal pellets lodged in the body until hygienically extracted by a professional.
But rights groups say authorities have raided hospitals searching for people with wounds that suggest they were involved in protests. At least five doctors have meanwhile been arrested for treating them, according to the World Health Organisation.