A/HRC/40/CRP.1 5. Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment in Detention Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees by NSS and SPLA officers while in state custody is ubiquitous. Almost every witness the Commission spoke to recounted experiencing or witnessing ill-treatment at the hands of state agents while in security-related detention. Beatings frequently occur during arrest and in the first hours of custody “to break [detainees] into the place”.425 However, torture occurs throughout detention, including in particular during investigation and interrogations. One witness, who was tortured during his interrogation, described: two of the NSS officers who had brought me to the safe house came back to my room. As soon as they entered, they blindfolded me using a black cloth. Next, they grabbed me up from the bed [where I was sitting] and started kicking me. I was still wearing the same trousers and shirt I wore to work that day. The NSS officers asked my name, my tribe and the type of work I did. I responded by saying, “I am a citizen who lives in the town”. This caused them to become infuriated and they continued kicking me and beating me for two hours with wooden sticks on my shoulder, back, elbows and knees. The NSS officers kicked me in my waist, and as they kicked me, they asked me to tell them about my [human rights] documentation work and my employer. By this time, I had started bleeding on my knees and elbows. The NSS officers slapped my face and kept grabbing me up and then throwing me back down. I felt pain in my back and elbows from the restraints which were still tied on my wrists. I tried to resist but couldn’t get free. I felt faint, exhausted and very weak. I was afraid I was dying and was convinced that nothing would help me except God. While I was crying, I begged the NSS officers for their forgiveness and not to kill me… 426 Multiple witnesses told the Commission about detainees being removed in the middle of the night for interrogation and torture; however, this also occurs during the day. Sessions of assault last between 10 minutes and two hours, but appear to last on average 20 to 30 minutes. While some witnesses were tortured only on one or a few occasions, others recounted being tortured and assaulted on a regular basis. One witness described his arrival at his place of detention and recalled: Every morning thereafter around 8:00 AM, three NSS officers wearing […] camouflage uniforms came downstairs to bring me outside for a short call. Next, they would take me to another room in the compound, sit me down on the floor and stand over me. They usually poured dirty water on me that they had collected from washing their dishes. My […] hair would become saturated with residue. Next, the NSS officers would start to kick me and lash my wet skin with two-inch wide wooden sticks and whips made of cow tail while calling me a rebel. I don’t know the names of the officers who would beat me, but when they were speaking to each other, they spoke in Dinka. When the NSS officers addressed me, they spoke in Arabic. […] This became a daily ritual—being beaten once every morning after going to the toilet. […] These sessions of being tortured would last 30-40 minutes each time and I would cry and scream out loud, but I did not bleed at all. Even though I knew I would be beaten, I never resisted because I didn’t have options. The NSS officers still hadn’t informed me of any charges brought against me, but I was never allowed to call my family or speak to a lawyer. I also hadn’t seen anyone else in the compound that I could tell what was happening to me.427 Multiple witnesses described being beaten with sticks, iron rods, rubber hoses, the butts of guns, and whipped with leather or strips of tire rubber commonly referred to as “Uncle Black”. One witness described the beating he received: They forced me to lie down on the floor in the corridor and proceeded to kick and stomp on my back. They lashed me more than 100 times all over my head and body with leather-like whips that might have been made of oxtail, in addition to a l.5-inch thick garden hose pipe. […] After being beaten for about 30 minutes straight, I had 425 Witness 1031, ERN 102184-102210. Witness 916, ERN 102112-102125. 427 Witness 910, ERN 102126 -102140. 426 65