A/HRC/23/58 73. In February, members of an anti-government armed group abducted a Sunni male in Damascus, mistaking him for an Alawite officer. He was tortured and suffered sectarian and other derogatory language before eventually persuading his captors that he was the wrong man. Nevertheless, his family was forced to pay a ransom. 74. Kidnappings have markedly increased in Aleppo and in the north, in areas beyond Government control. Two lawyers from the besieged town of Nubul were kidnapped in February while returning from Afrin with a delivery of flour. They are still being held by members of Ahrar Al-Sham. A detention facility run by the Al-Badr Martyrs Brigades in Hayan contains dozens of people being held for ransom. 75. On 9 February, two priests from Aleppo (one Greek Orthodox, the other Armenian Catholic) were abducted at an anti-government checkpoint. On 22 April, two bishops from Aleppo (one Greek Orthodox, the other Assyrian Orthodox) were abducted by unidentified gunmen. Their driver was shot and killed. The gunmen have not been identified. Other antigovernment armed groups have attempted to find the priests, who remain missing. 76. In Dara’a in mid-May, anti-government armed groups reportedly abducted the 84year-old father of the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. No group has claimed responsibility. 77. Anti-government armed groups have kidnapped individuals and held them hostage in violation of common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, amounting to a war crime. E. Enforced disappearance Government forces and affiliated militia 78. Enforced disappearances have been carried out by Government officials, including Military Intelligence, and by affiliated militia acting on behalf of or with the support of the Government. 79. Large numbers of individuals, mainly young men, were arrested at Government and affiliated militia-controlled checkpoints throughout the country, including in Shin (Homs), Nawa (Dara’a) and Qatana (Damascus), and held for prolonged periods. Some were taken to unknown locations and have not been heard from since. In other cases, arrests were followed by a refusal by Government officials to disclose the whereabouts of the persons concerned. In most cases, relatives did not try to ascertain the fate of those arrested owing to well-founded fears of reprisals. 80. Such acts place the persons concerned outside the protection of the law, in violation of their fundamental rights to liberty and security, and constitute a threat to their right to life. Such victims face torture and ill-treatment. Depriving detainees of contact with the outside world causes continuing anguish to their families. 81. Government forces and affiliated militia perpetrated enforced disappearance. Where part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population, these enforced disappearances constitute a crime against humanity. F. Torture and other forms of ill-treatment 1. Government forces and affiliated militia 82. Torture is endemic in detention centres and prisons. At the Military Police headquarters in Latakia, Government security officers beat, slapped repeatedly and kicked an opposition activist. She was humiliated and verbally abused. Other detainees in the same 14