A/HRC/40/70 general absence of the rule of law. Indeed, seven years of prolonged hostilities 6 have spawned numerous security vacuums, elevating the risk of both continued violence in many areas and impunity for serious human rights violations. During the period under review, the Commission documented several incidents of civilians detained arbitrarily by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham or abducted by members of armed groups and criminal gangs and held hostage for ransom in their strongholds in Idlib and northern Aleppo. Civilians in Idlib also suffered from the lack of a centralized system of governance under the parallel structures of two dominant systems: the opposition’s “interim government” and the “salvation government” of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. Under the oppressive rule of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham terrorists, girls in Idlib were also denied access to education. 7. Similarly, with the conclusion of Operation Olive Branch by Turkey in March 2018, arbitrary arrests, detention and pillaging became pervasive throughout Afrin District (Aleppo). The lack of effective complaint mechanisms and a centralized judiciary, coupled with the presence of dozens of armed actors power-sharing on the sub-district level, created confusion among civilians about which institution was responsible for addressing specific grievances, including in cases of detention and property appropriation. Infighting among armed groups and a series of car bombs exacerbated an already unstable security situation. As in Idlib, abductions for ransom by armed group members and criminal gangs prevailed. 8. Civilians in areas recently retaken by pro-government forces similarly suffered from a general absence of the rule of law, including in eastern Ghouta (Rif Dimashq) and Dar’a. As with areas under the control of armed groups and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham terrorists, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance were perpetrated with impunity. Detentions were used by government forces as a form of both retaliation and intelligence gathering. 9. After years of living under siege, many civilians in areas recaptured by progovernment forces additionally faced numerous administrative and legal obstacles in their access to key services. Countless persons only possess civil documentation issued by armed groups, which is not officially recognized, affecting their access to education, medical care and inheritance. Access of civilians to adequate housing, land and property rights also remained curtailed by the large-scale destruction of infrastructure and homes and was compounded by systemic property seizures under the State’s counter-terrorism framework. 10. In areas under the control of SDF, thousands of women, men and children continued to be unlawfully interned or detained, some of them held in deplorable conditions in makeshift camps unfit to meet their basic needs. There is, moreover, a concern that Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists and their affiliates are being held incommunicado by SDF and United States forces without adequate judicial guarantees, conditions that are conducive to detainee abuse. Others, such as the wives and children of ISIL fighters, continue to be held in legal limbo as their countries of origin refuse to repatriate them. 11. The foregoing violations and general absence of the rule of law paint a stark reality for civilians countrywide, including for 6.2 million internally displaced persons and 5.6 million refugees seeking to return. The Commission notes with concern the continued unstable situation of the internally displaced, including those subsisting in Rukban camp, who are not provided with adequate food, water or living conditions. Moreover, the scope and scale of abductions, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, together with the destruction of vital infrastructure, the lack of effective service provision and civil documentation and extensive property seizures demonstrate that – despite a general winding-down of hostilities in the Syrian Arab Republic – numerous challenges persist regarding the sustainable return of internally displaced persons and refugees. 6 4 The Commission first determined the existence of a non-international armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic beginning in February 2012 (see, e.g., A/HRC/21/50).