The International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights expresses its profound and grave concern and strongly condemns the credible reports published regarding the violent entry and actions of the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran within hospital premises, including an attack on a medical facility in Ilam Province.
According to available information, security forces, through armed presence, the use of tear gas, and the creation of an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in an environment that, under all domestic and international legal standards, must remain entirely safe, civilian, and protected from any form of coercive intervention, have caused serious disruption to the provision of medical services and have endangered the lives of patients, the injured, medical staff, and their companions.
These actions constitute clear and multi-layered violations of the binding international legal obligations of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including: the violation of the right to life and personal security, the violation of the right to access health and medical care, the violation of the protected status of medical facilities and the violation of human dignity and the protection owed to medical personnel.
Pursuant to Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), States are under an obligation to actively protect the right to life. The use of repressive measures within medical settings constitutes a direct threat to the lives of vulnerable individuals.
Furthermore, under Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), safe and non-discriminatory access to healthcare services is a fundamental human right. Any security intervention that obstructs the delivery of medical care constitutes a direct violation of this right.
Moreover, according to the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and customary international standards, hospitals and medical facilities enjoy special protection, even in situations of crisis, internal unrest, or armed conflict. Transforming such locations into sites of security operations constitutes a violation of the principle of distinction between civilian and military objectives. Likewise, threatening, intimidating, or endangering doctors, nurses, and medical personnel represents a blatant violation of the principle of human dignity and international standards for the protection of medical workers.
In light of the foregoing, the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights emphasizes that the conduct of the ruling regime in Iran, which contains elements of gross violations of human rights and international law, gives rise to international responsibility and is subject to submission and examination within international accountability mechanisms, including for the purpose of any joint preventive international action.
Accordingly, the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights calls upon:
- The United Nations,
- The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran,
- The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
- The European Union and governments committed to human rights, and
- International medical and humanitarian Organisations,
to, as a first step, initiate an independent, urgent, and impartial investigation into the attacks by the authorities of the Islamic Republic on medical facilities in Iran, and subsequently, through a collective and coordinated international action, compel the Government of the Islamic Republic to guarantee the full protection and inviolability of medical facilities.
The International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights further calls for the immediate provision of legal, medical, and international support for victims, the injured, and affected medical personnel, as well as for the documentation and follow-up of these violations within international accountability frameworks.
Attacks on hospitals and the intimidation of medical environments constitute not only violations of the law, but also a crossing of fundamental humanitarian red lines. Silence in the face of such actions amounts to the normalization of grave human rights violations.
The International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights declares its full solidarity with the victims of these actions and underscores the necessity of urgent, coordinated, and decisive action by the international community to protect the affected individuals and to prevent the recurrence of such serious violations.