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A United Nations official on Iran said she has received complaints that protesters linked to the wave of protests in the country have been removed from hospitals and arrested by Iranian security forces.
The report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Mai Sato, for Reuters, shows that families have been forced to pay ransoms of between $5,000 and $7,000 to recover the bodies of their relatives.
The American human rights organization HRANA reports at least 5,937 dead, including 214 members of the security forces, while according to official statistics the number of victims is 3,117.
Sato, who also lectures at Birkbeck University in London, said she too could not confirm the figures from independent sources, but believes the number of victims far exceeds the official figures.
“There is a lot of evidence from hospital staff in different provinces of Iran that security forces have attacked hospitals,” the official said. Family members who go to the hospital the next day no longer find their loved one there.
Medical personnel in Iran, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, confirmed some of these complaints. A doctor in the city of Rasht said: “Dozens of patients with bullet wounds were in our hospital. They were operated on, and then the Revolutionary Guards took them away. We don’t know what happened to them.”
A nurse and two doctors at Tehran hospitals reported that members of the Revolutionary Guard and police were searching hospitals and requesting the files of treated patients, with the aim of arresting them.
The nurse said: “They were checking every room, looking for injured protesters.”
These actions have created an intimidating effect, preventing citizens from seeking medical help, at the risk of their injuries or illnesses worsening. Sato added that these behaviors constitute a serious violation of medical neutrality, as under the Geneva Conventions, doctors, hospitals and patients must be protected to guarantee impartial care.
According to reports, unarmed protesters in 31 provinces have been shot in the chest and head, targeting vital organs, an indication of the deadly violence used by security forces. Sato described these as unlawful killings and arbitrary executions, with an increase in cases of bullet injuries to the eyes.
Sato commented that demanding ransom from authorities is a practice that “combines pain with blackmail.”
For its part, Iran's Health Ministry encouraged those injured in the protests to go to hospitals: "If you have a wound, do not try to treat it yourself at home and you should not bother going to a medical center."
According to Amnesty International, an 18-year-old boy, Amirhossein Ghanderzadeh, was arrested at home and his family members, including a minor, were asked to be checked for injuries.
In a photo circulating on social media, which has not been verified by AFP, three women were seen removing bullets from the back of a lying woman, with the help of a mobile phone flashlight.
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