A/HRC/40/CRP.1 Unofficial NSS Detention Locations The NSS makes use of unofficial detention facilities which are commonly referred to as “safe houses”, but are anything but safe. The Commission has documented the existence of a number of these locations in Juba including in the Bilpham, Gudele, Jebel, Mangateen, and Muniki areas; however, some are used for finite periods of time before being abandoned and new ones established. These are often regular houses, still furnished as residences, with nothing to distinguish them to the casual observer from the outside. Indeed, one informal detention facility used in Mangateen was not even in a closed compound. Witnesses repeatedly described entering musty homes that had not been used for some time and seeing dilapidated beds, couches, desks, televisions, plastic chairs and/or refrigerators. The Commission even received reports that in some instances the NSS detains people in their own homes before transferring them to other locations. In some instances, only one detainee was held at the informal detention facility, while in others, a number of detainees were held in different rooms of the house. These facilities are generally manned by a small number of NSS officers, in a few instances they were supported by SPLA officers. One witness described being held at one of these locations for five or six days during which he was beaten nightly for periods of one and a half to two hours by NSS officers and given water and food once a day. The use of unofficial detention facilities is particularly concerning as they are removed from official oversight and monitoring, where maltreatment is possible without witnesses, and it is particularly difficult to locate people given the absence of registries and documentation, raising the likelihood of enforced disappearance. b) SPLA Military Intelligence The SPLA Military Intelligence detains people, including civilians at their barracks around the country, including for example at its barracks in Yei, Grinthi barracks in Wau and their barracks in Raga. The Commission collected information about the SPLA Military Intelligence detaining people at unofficial locations, including in commanders’ houses. Giada SPLA barracks The Giada SPLA barracks are located in the southern part of Juba, at the end of Hamia road and are often referred to as “Jamus” because the Jamus Battalion was based there at one point when Sudan was still one country. The detention facility is an old colonial prison sunk deep into the ground, accessed by cement stairs. From the outside the detention facility is not immediately apparent, and resembles a food storage facility covered with an iron sheet near a mango tree and offices. There are at least two underground cells with a metal roof, brick walls and a mud floor. Over time, the number of people being held in these two cells has varied between 20 and 100. The cells are sometimes so overcrowded that it is difficult for detainees to change position or roll over while sleeping on the floor. As a result of being underground, the cells are very dark with no ventilation but a lot of lice infestation. One witness observed that it was so dark that “I could not see at all, but after a few days of being there, my eyes adjusted and I was able to see.”422 There are no toilets in the cells, and, beyond being allowed out once in the early morning to use the toilet, detainees reported having to urinate in a bottle and defecate in plastic bags in front of other detainees. These bags are then hung in the cell until the next morning when detainees are allowed out again. One witness also reported being locked in an office block in the middle of the Giada compound where the rooms were being used to hold as many as 15 detainees at a time. There, detainees were reportedly confined to smelly, overheated rooms with only two small vents at the top of the wall, which were infested with black ants, and had urine all over the floor since there was no toilet. 422 62 Witness 596, ERN 101725-101736, para. 16.