A/HRC/24/46 B. 1. Specifically protected persons and objects Hospitals and health-care personnel 136. Across the country, hospitals were destroyed and medical personnel targeted. Sick and wounded civilians and hors de combat fighters were left to languish without treatment. 137. Under common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, parties to the conflict must ensure that the wounded and sick are cared for. Hospitals and medical personnel must be respected and protected at all times and must not be the object of attack. 2. Government and pro-government forces 138. Attacks on hospitals and health-care facilities were documented in Hamah, Homs, Idlib, Dara’a, Ar Raqqah and Damascus. 139. In mid-May, during the ground operation on Halfaya (Hamah), government forces deliberately shelled a field hospital, resulting in death and injury of medical personnel and the destruction of the facility. 140. In the course of attacks on opposition-controlled areas in Homs, on 16 May, government forces destroyed a children’s hospital in Dar Al-Kabirah and, in late May, shelled a field hospital in Al-Houlah. 141. On 24 May, two rockets hit a field hospital in Taftanaz, Idlib. They were fired in close succession, indicating that the hospital had been targeted. 142. Field hospitals in Dara’a were systematically targeted and shelled, killing medical staff and patients. Given that the hospitals were forced to close, the wounded were left unattended. Although some hospitals remain operational in basements of civilian homes, there is a severe shortage in medicine and qualified staff. 143. In early June, a field hospital in the Al-Qalamoun region was shelled, leading to the wounding and death of patients. First responders were killed in a second shelling attack. 144. On 20 June, government forces bombarded the national hospital in Ar Raqqah. Three medical staff members were injured and the intensive care unit was destroyed. 145. Medical personnel were targeted and killed while performing their duties. A pattern of arrests, harassment and intimidation of health-care professionals was observed (see paragraphs 54 to 62 above). 146. Government forces misused health-care facilities for military purposes, compromising their neutral status. Abdul Gadir Al-Shagafi Military Hospital in Al-Waar (Homs) was used as a military base to launch attacks on Al-Waar and Juret Al-Sheyah. Snipers were positioned on the roof of the hospital, with tanks and artillery around its perimeter. In late May, prior to the Al-Qusayr offensive, government forces deployed inside its hospitals. 147. There was a significant presence of security services in State hospitals in Qamishli (Al Hasakah) and Damascus. Nurses working in Damascus hospitals received instructions to deny medical aid to members of the opposition, any of whom elected not to seek medical assistance in hospitals based on a well-founded fear of arrest, detention, torture or death. 148. The Government has violated its obligations under international humanitarian law, deliberately obstructing the efforts of the sick and wounded to receive help. Government forces deliberately targeted field hospitals to gain military advantage by depriving the opposition and those perceived to support them of medical assistance for injuries sustained, 18