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A/HRC/23/58 20 shelled and bombarded by government forces. Some, such as the Zarzor hospital in Ansari, have been hit repeatedly. Some State hospitals have been used as military bases by government forces. Snipers are positioned at the Al-Houlah hospital, with tanks and artillery at its entrance. 124. Medical personnel have been attacked. Zarzor hospital staff members went missing and are reportedly being held by Air Force Intelligence in Aleppo. A nurse in a field clinic in Homs was wanted for arrest because he provided medical assistance to armed groups. 125. In Aleppo and Homs, accounts were received of wounded and sick persons being refused medical treatment on political and sectarian grounds. Civilians avoided seeking treatment in Government-administered hospitals owing to a well-founded fear of arrest. One doctor in an Aleppo hospital described the arrest of wounded young men by security forces. 126. Government forces committed the war crime of attacking protected objects and the war crime of attacking objects or persons using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions. C. Pillaging and destruction of property 127. Justifying their actions either as “spoils of war” or as retribution for supporting the opposing side, parties to the conflict burn, loot and pillage homes and businesses. The ever-increasing numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons leave behind belongings, which are then appropriated by soldiers and armed groups. 128. Fleeing families frequently have their few possessions stolen at checkpoints or by thieves taking advantage of the lawlessness. While vast amounts of property have been destroyed as a result of shelling, a violation is recorded when reasonably believed to be a deliberate targeting of an opponent’s property. Both pillage and deliberate property destruction are war crimes. 1. Government forces and affiliated militia 129. In a now familiar pattern, following shelling and ground attacks, government forces and Shabbiha secure an area and conduct house searches. While inside homes, they steal valuables, irrespective of whether the occupants are present. At checkpoints, cars and money are taken from those coming from known opposition neighbourhoods. 130. Prolonged fighting in Dara’a has displaced tens of thousands, leaving homes and businesses unguarded. In Dara’a city, Jasem, Musayfrah, Al-Abassiyah (in February and March), Sanamayn and Um Waleed (in April), the homes of suspected anti-government sympathizers were stripped bare. In many cases, theft was followed by the burning of the homes and businesses. 131. In early April, on the outskirts of Hama, an internally displaced woman returned home a month after her village had been bombed and raided by government forces. She found her house and car had been burned, as had those of her neighbours. Items, such as television sets and furniture, had been looted. 2. Anti-government armed groups 132. During the March fighting in Ar Raqqah city, the Shia and Alawite communities fled. Most have not returned. Their homes were confiscated by armed groups, their properties looted and resulting items sold off. Looting of the homes of loyalists was rampant in Al-Tabqah, when anti-government groups, including Jabhat Al-Nusra, took ove