A/HRC/40/70 enforced disappearance as a violation of international law continues as long as families do not know the victim’s whereabouts.38 Access to basic services 78. Beyond arbitrary arrests and detention, life in recently recaptured areas was characterized by various obstacles imposed by government forces on civilians, particularly affecting those who had to travel to obtain basic services otherwise unavailable in their places of residence. Persons interviewed in eastern Ghouta, for example, recalled that residents, including men of military age, were often subjected to security checks, with many reportedly having to pay bribes to cross government-controlled checkpoints and have access to services. Moreover, even where certain services, including education and health, were being gradually restored, such as in Dar’a and Duma (eastern Ghouta), the situation in parts of Dar’a and Duma remained dire, with many civilians living in the basements of destroyed buildings or in makeshift shelters. 79. Exacerbating the lack of access to basic services, Syrian authorities do not recognize civil documentation issued by armed groups, including documentation associated with vital events, such as births, deaths or property transactions. In Duma, for example, individuals recalled that, fearing arrest or conscription, they had to risk travelling to Damascus in order to obtain certificates relating to education, medical care or employment. Owing to cultural mores, women, who were less likely to have property issued in their names, faced additional challenges, including to secure inheritance rights. Housing, land and property 80. The Commission also documented a number of incidents in which properties in Aleppo, Damascus, Homs, Hama, Rif Dimashq and Suwayda’ Governorates were seized by the State pursuant to the counter-terrorism law established by presidential decree, “Law�� No. 19/2012. Under Law No. 19, both the movable and immovable property of individuals deemed to have engaged in terrorism activities may be frozen or confiscated (arts. 11 and 12). Some 70,000 Syrians have reportedly faced asset freeze decisions by the Ministry of Finance in the past two years alone. Supporting documentation received by interviewees confirms the Ministry of Finance as the body actively seizing properties. 39 81. In some cases, decisions by the counter-terrorism court40 to seize property have been amended to include wives and children, including minors, of males convicted of terrorist acts. It remains unclear whether family members are also being convicted of terrorist offences or simply barred from exercising any claim on the properties seized. In other cases, friends of the individual convicted were also included on amended decisions. 82. The ambit of prohibited acts enumerated under counter-terrorism Law No. 19 appears to be unduly broad and contains catch-all provisions which may potentially affect thousands more Syrian civilians. Additional concerns regarding due process and the right to a fair trial for those whose properties have been seized include the independence of the counter-terrorism judiciary and respect for fundamental judicial guarantees, as well as notification procedures and the right to counsel for refugees and internally displaced persons, with the latter continuing to endure poor conditions of shelter, hygiene, health, safety and nutrition countrywide.41 38 39 40 41 16 Article 17 (1) of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance provides that “acts constituting enforced disappearance shall be considered a continuing offence as long as perpetrators continue to conceal the fate and the whereabouts of persons who have disappeared” (emphasis added). Under article 1 of Presidential Decree No. 63/2012, and for terrorism-related offences enumerated under Law No. 19, the Ministry of Finance is empowered to “take the necessary precautionary measures against movable and immovable property belonging to the accused”. See Presidential Decree No. 22/2012 on Establishing a Counter-terrorism Court. See Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, para. 3 (c) and Principles 18–19.