A/HRC/17/44 (and the Commission‟s specific interventions in these cases) have been further explored in chapter III, section E, of the present report. 108. Foreign nationals also reported to the Commission that a number of migrants had disappeared in Tripoli. Interviewees in refugee camps in Tunisia noted that migrant workers had disappeared since the uprising had begun, mainly in raids conducted by Government forces in migrants‟ camps in Tripoli. Their whereabouts are still unknown. Several interviewees mentioned that Saif al-Islam Qadhafi‟s Katiba had entered workers‟ compounds, ill-treated residents, robbed them of their belongings and had taken people away. They also told the Commission that migrants had been abducted in the streets, taken from their homes, ill-treated and/or blackmailed against their release. While some had succeeded in finding a way out by paying ransoms, others remain in custody. 109. The Commission has received very little information on violations committed by the armed opposition in relation to arrest, detention of abduction or any form of deprivation of liberty or disappearance. 4. Conclusion 110. The Commission concludes that Government forces have arbitrarily detained a significant number of persons in many towns and cities across Libya. In addition to not affording persons proper legal protections, that the Government forces‟ arrests and detentions appear to have been carried out in a “blanket” fashion, targeting suspected opposition supporters or regions viewed as being against the regime, rather than those suspected of criminal responsibility or other security-related reasons associated with the armed conflict. The Commission has also documented a range of cases of persons who have been disappeared, many of whom remain unaccounted for. On the basis of its investigation, the Commission is satisfied that the Government of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has engaged in a pattern of enforced disappearances of persons in violation of its obligations under international human rights and international humanitarian law. The Commission has received very little information on violations committed by the armed opposition in relation to arbitrary arrest, or other forms of deprivation of liberty or disappearances. C. 1. Torture and other forms of ill-treatment Introduction 111. Reports concerning the use of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by both Government and opposition authorities have been received by the Commission. Both entities have denied their involvement in such violations. As part of its investigation, the Commission visited two detention facilities, one each in Benghazi and Tripoli, and interviewed a total of 30 detainees. The Commission also interviewed other witnesses and alleged victims of torture and ill-treatment in the course of its field mission. 2. Applicable law 112. Under international human rights law, there is a clear prohibition of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in article 7 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. A fuller definition of torture is provided for in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: “torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason 32

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