A/HRC/43/CRP.7 disobeying the rules or orders.169 One detainee was regularly beaten for a year while in ‘Izoliatsiia’ as punishment for his pro-Ukraine views. Guards stepped on his toes and used a baton to hit him on his heels and legs causing him severe pain. Another detainee said he was beaten daily to make him confess and needed help to stand or use the toilet.170 Electric shocks 24. Use of electric shocks was one of the most common methods of torture. Electric shocks sourced from military field telephone apparatuses (TA) or stun guns were administered to detainees’ legs, feet, arms, necks, mouths, ears and genitals. 25. In ‘Izoliatsiia’, a separate room with a table and relevant equipment was used to administer electric shocks. For example, one detainee was tied to the table, handcuffed and hooded. Perpetrators attached one electrode to his genitalia and inserted a metal tube with a second electrode into his anus. He was subjected to painful electric shocks for several minutes, during which he lost consciousness several times. When he screamed, they put a cloth into his mouth.171 Another detainee told OHCHR that he was put on the table, hooded and with his arms and legs tied. Perpetrators attached electric wires to his feet and poured water on them.172 Some detainees held in ‘Izoliatsiia’ could not prevent themselves from urinating and defecating during electrocution.173 Asphyxiation 26. OHCHR was informed of both dry and wet asphyxiation of detainees. One detainee told OHCHR that ‘operatives’ of the ‘ministry of state security’ and ‘Izoliatsiia’ personnel used waterboarding technique (pouring water on a tissue covering the face) to make him confess. They also held his head in a pool of water until he began suffocating. He said they tortured him mornings and evenings during several days of interrogations.174 Another detainee told OHCHR that upon his apprehension, local ‘police’ tortured him for three hours by putting a gas mask on him and stepping on the tube to restrict his airflow while also hitting his chest. 175 Another detainee recalled that the men who apprehended him put a plastic bag over his head and tied it around his neck so he began suffocating.176 A woman, who was detained in ‘Izoliatsiia’, was also suffocated with a plastic bag.177 Sexual violence 27. Nine detainees reported having been subjected to rape and other sexual violence during interrogations, mostly as a part of the torture by electric shocks (see para 25 above).178 One detainee told OHCHR that the perpetrators wrapped wires around his toe, inserted a metal rod into his anus and turned on the electricity. They used the wires on other parts of his body and poured water over him to increase the pain.179 Similarly, another detainee told OHCHR that the perpetrators tied him to a metal table, undressed him from the waist down, and wrapped wires around his toes and placed them between his buttocks. They repeated this, with wires inserted in his anus, and wrapped around his penis and scrotum. His genitalia was also repeatedly hit with a metal rod. As a result of this torture and sexual violence, the skin on his genitalia turned black and peeled off over several weeks.180 28. After refusing to confess to espionage, one detainee was put in a cell where one of the cellmates took off his pants and attempted to force the victim to engage in oral sex.181 Another 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 42 OHCHR interviews, 13, 15 and 23 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 23 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 10 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 15 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 10 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 15 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 21 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 16 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 20 January 2020. OHCHR interviews, 2, 13, 14 and 15 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 13 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 14 January 2020. OHCHR interview, 23 January 2020.