A/HRC/25/61 courts, prosecutor and judicial offices when carrying out their legal duties. Like the Constitution, the law, in its article 5, forbids “arbitrary detention of individuals”, requires that families of detainees be “apprised of any and all developments” and forbids the use of “unknown places” for detention. In articles 6 and 7, it also forbids interrogators from using blindfolds, shackling or humiliating persons during arrests, or sitting behind detainees during interrogation. It directs officials to use questions that are “clear, purposeful and related directly or indirectly to the accusations” and to use “proper methods of investigation and modern techniques” during interrogations. It also forbids the use of torture to obtain confessions, and insists that forced confessions have no legal merit. 27. As at 14 January 2014, at least 895 “prisoners of conscience” and “political prisoners” were reportedly imprisoned. This number includes 379 political activists, 292 religious practitioners, 92 human rights defenders (including 50 ethnic rights activists), 71 civic activists, 37 journalists and netizens, and 24 student activists (see annex II). 28. The Special Rapporteur is struck by the magnitude, frequency and recurring nature of certain incidents reported by interviewees. The details given by interviewees depict situations of arbitrary detention, particularly the apparent arrest and detention of individuals for the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights, including the right to expression, association or belief, as described by other special procedures.22 Their testimonies also uniformly convey a pattern of abuse that violates both international and national safeguards for humane and fair treatment of detained and accused persons. 29. A majority of the 61 individuals located in Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran reported having been detained between 2003 and 2008, 11 reported detentions in 2009, and 12 from 2009 onward. Half of all interviewees reported detentions lasting between six months and three years. Some 69 per cent reported that authorities either did not have warrants or refused to produce one when requested.23 In some cases, arrests were made at an intelligence office or revolutionary court after individuals responded to a verbal summons, not a written summons as required by the Code of Criminal Procedure. 30. About half of all interviewees reported that they had been arrested at a private residence. The authorities had conducted extensive searches and often confiscated personal items, such as family photo albums. Several reported verbal and physical abuse of themselves and of family members during the arrest. In two thirds of cases, interviewees stated that they had been arrested on behalf of the Minister of Intelligence. Others reported that they had been arrested by various branches of the security forces, including the police, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps or Basij militia. 31. Approximately 85 per cent reported being held in Ministry of Intelligence detention centres or a local prison. It was reported that those taken to local prisons were often held in special intelligence or Islamic Revolutionary Guards wards, such as wards 209, 2A or 240 of Evin prison in Tehran. They were reportedly held in these locations for the course of what appears to be an “initial stage of investigation”. A majority of interviewees reported that they were detained mostly incommunicado during the “investigation stage” for periods ranging from two days to four months, during which they were repeatedly interrogated. 32. Seventy-five per cent of interviewees reported having been held without any charge laid within 24 hours as stipulated by the Constitution. In 59 per cent of cases, detainees were formally charged after more than a week (in some cases, months) or never at all. 22 23 8 Ibid. Percentages are based on 29 formerly detained interviewees, with the exception of the number associated with the trials, which are based on the 18 individuals that faced trial only.