A/HRC/17/44 3. Factual findings 122. The Commission repeatedly heard of cases in which persons were either denied access to medical care or faced obstacles imposed by security forces in accessing health care after having been wounded in demonstrations. In one case reported to the Commission, a protestor in Al-Bayda on 18 February received three gun shots and was provided with no medical care despite calls for the security forces to provide assistance. He was left bleeding from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. when he died, as a result of the lack of medical attention. In a separate case, another man from Al-Bayda also spoke of the lack of medical attention: “Those in the airport came out on to us firing arms and I was shot along with Sharah Albal who died later in the evening without medical care.85 I was shot on my right thigh on the left side … We requested medical emergency because we were wounded and no one responded. We asked for water they refused and searched us. On Saturday 19 February afternoon, we were then moved from the hall and literally thrown into a truck after blindfolding us and whoever moved was hit. We were put on board a military airplane on the floor and we arrived to Tripoli at night. We could hear them say „this one is dead, this one is alive‟. We landed in Mateigha airport and were taken to the military hospital there. There the doctors took the blindfold off and put me in a bed for half an hour then they took me into surgery.” 123. Another witness from Benghazi who had been shot while participating in a demonstration on 17 February reported hearing instructions that no medical help was to be given and that a debate ensued amongst the military before he was taken to Benghazi Medical Centre: “I could hear the crowd around me say this one is still alive, I heard another reply don„t touch anyone. Someone said to put me in the dumpster. I could hear a quarrel among them. One said: one is still alive, another said I will take him for medical help in the ambulance, another replied no, another replied I will take him in my personal car so the one who said no told them to disarm and take off their military uniform. They put me in the back seat and took me out of the military camp from the back gate and handed me to the Benghazi Medical Centre.” 124. The Commission also received information from medical professionals that the entries and exits to hospitals and accident centres had been closed by Government forces to prevent people from entering to receive treatment. A doctor in Tripoli reported: “Ambulances full of mercenaries or Qadhafi forces did not let me out of hospital and prevented all exit and entry. I spoke with colleagues at Abu Salim accident centre and Az-Zawiyah and they also said no one could enter.” 125. The Fondation Alkarama also reported that border guards and Colonel Qadhafi‟s security services were preventing injured individuals from crossing into Tunisia to seek medical assistance. 126. The Commission also heard several reports of attacks on wounded persons and abductions from hospitals. According to one person interviewed by the Commission, in Benghazi in the early days of the protest, an employee at Al-Jalaa‟ hospital let alleged mercenaries enter through a back door “in order to kill the injured demonstrators”. Another person reported having heard similar accounts and that a fight erupted inside the hospital as friends and relatives of the injured banded together to protect them from being taken or killed. A nurse in Benghazi speaking to the British television network Channel Four said that on the evening of 17 February, armed men wearing “military or police” uniforms 85 This may be a reference to the person who died in the previous witness‟s account. 35