A/HRC/40/70 Dar’a, Hama and northern Homs (A/HRC/39/65, paras. 13–63) affected conflict dynamics dramatically and facilitated major shifts towards the consolidation of power by the State. Following the cessation of hostilities and the subsequent implementation of local truces in the those areas, government forces regained control over more territory than they had administered since the onset of the conflict. Consequently, and after years under the direction and control of various armed groups, hundreds of thousands of Syrian women, men and children transitioned into a new grim reality during the latter half of the year. Arbitrary arrests and detention 73. Upon securing control over Duma (Rif Dimashq), Dar’a and northern Homs government forces engendered a climate of fear through a campaign of arbitrary arrests and detention.31 Indeed, while arbitrary detention throughout the Syrian Arab Republic continues to be perpetrated by all parties on the ground, the phenomenon has been most pervasive since 2011 in areas under government influence. During the reporting period, activists, civil defence volunteers, conscript deserters, recent returnees and others generally perceived to be opposition supporters were the most likely to be detained arbitrarily. Women with familial ties to opposition fighters or defectors were similarly detained for intelligence-gathering purposes or retribution. 74. Individuals known to be in contact with relatives or friends living in areas under opposition control were also arrested, including in eastern Ghouta. Pursuant to an oath of loyalty required by the Government under the framework of “reconciliation”, 32 civilians throughout eastern Ghouta were prevented from speaking to those in opposition-held areas, including their own family members forcibly displaced north-west under “evacuation agreements” (A/HRC/36/55, para. 35). 75. The Commission recalls that the scope and scale of arbitrary arrests and detention used by government forces as a tool of repression have led to the custodial deaths of thousands of Syrian civilians. 33 In an unprecedented development, during the period under review, State entities provided government civil registry offices 34 with information that thousands to tens of thousands of previously detained individuals were deceased.35 Civil registry offices in Hama, Ladhiqiyah, Hasakah and Damascus Governorates updated their civil status records accordingly to reflect the deaths. 76. Most interviewees explained that the records they received at civil registry offices concerning their fathers, sons, brothers or spouses referred to natural causes of death, such as “heart attack” or “stroke”. Other detainees who perished shared common death dates, possibly indicating group executions. Families who did not obtain a death certificate were unable to move forward on related legal issues, including inheritance.36 77. Whenever a person known to be in State custody dies, the burden is primarily on the State to prove that his or her death did not result from acts or omissions attributable to it. Each custodial death must be independently investigated and the results must be publicly reported (A/68/261, para. 52).37 Moreover, in the context of death notifications which list the names of individuals otherwise disappeared, the Commission is of the view that the 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 The Commission has previously documented a widespread and systematic pattern in which men above the age of 15 years had been arbitrarily arrested and detained by government security and armed forces, or militia acting on their behalf, during mass arrests, at checkpoints or during house searches. See, e.g., “Death notifications in the Syrian Arab Republic”, 27 November 2018; see also “Out of sight, out of mind: deaths in detention in the Syrian Arab Republic”, conference room paper (A/HRC/31/CRP.1). On oaths of loyalty and reconciliation generally, see A/HRC/36/55, paras. 20–22. See, generally, A/HRC/31/CRP.1. Administrative bodies operating under the Syrian Ministry of Interior and located in each governorate countrywide. The vast majority of those individuals are believed to have been detained by State authorities between 2011 and 2014. See “Death notifications in the Syrian Arab Republic”. See also, Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 36 (2018) on the right to life. 15