A/HRC/40/69 government agencies, airports, banks, media houses, oilfields and civil society organizations. 27. The periods of detention ranged from a few hours to more than three years. Almost no detainees were informed of the reasons for their arrest or had charges filed against them. Witnesses reported having their property searched and confiscated without being returned. Witnesses also described being removed from their cells in the middle of the night for “investigation”. Some detainees were interrogated over several months. None of those interrogated were given access to legal representation, and in most instances, neither were their families informed about where they were being held. 28. A stand-off between prisoners and guards at the National Security Service’s Blue House headquarters on 7 October 2018 highlighted the prevalence of prolonged detention without trial, incommunicado detention, solitary confinement and limited access to family, medical attention and legal representation. 29. Witnesses described being subjected to several forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including being threatened, beaten with blunt objects, whipped, burned with plastics, electrocuted, or forced to watch other detainees being executed or assaulted, and cases of positional torture, including suspension, and limited instances of sexual assault. The Commission observed that the cases at Giada and Gorum military barracks tended to be the most severe in terms of the frequency and severity of torturous acts. The Commission also documented cases of gunshot wounds, skin lesions arising from the use of restraints, and back injuries allegedly sustained during assault. 30. Detention facilities are overcrowded, lack sunlight and ventilation and are infested with vermin. Medical care is substandard, and inadequate food leads to malnutrition and sometimes starvation. Access to toilet facilities and potable water is limited, with poor hygiene and sanitation conditions taking a toll on detainees’ health. The Commission documented numerous cases where witnesses contracted infectious diseases and infections as the result of these conditions. 31. Witnesses, particularly those who had survived more than one year of detention, underscored the continuing adverse effects on their psychological well-being and their professional and family lives, even years after their release. 32. Many detainees have died as a result of extrajudicial execution, detention in inhuman conditions, including in metal shipping containers with no ventilation in extreme heat, or the denial of medical care. Many others have been forcibly disappeared while in State custody. 33. There is little to no access to detention facilities by outsiders. Furthermore, while the South Sudanese economy has struggled over the past years, the National Security Service has continued to receive significant resource allocation, spending and weapons procurement, to the detriment of other areas of need. 34. The absence of procedural safeguards in the National Security Service Act (2014) accentuates the lack of accountability of the National Security Service. Furthermore, it is unclear from where the SPLA Military Intelligence directorate derives its powers to arrest, detain, search and seize property. 35. The Commission is also concerned by the long reach and collaboration of South Sudanese State security organs with neighbouring countries, notably Kenya and Uganda, where it received information about cases of post-release monitoring, abduction and attempted abduction. At least eight witnesses indicated that they saw Aggrey Izbon Idris and Dong Samuel Luak in the custody of the National Security Service in South Sudan shortly after they had disappeared from Nairobi in late January 2017. When the Commission raised their cases with the Government of South Sudan, however, it denied having any knowledge of their whereabouts, stating that the Commission should make inquiries of the Government of Kenya. 5