A/HRC/37/72 61. Many internally displaced persons were displaced multiple times as a result of conflict or difficulties concerning security of tenure and rising food and housing prices in their places of displacement. In addition to the thousands who have been internally displaced as a result of hostilities in Raqqah and Dayr al-Zawr, large numbers of previously displaced persons in Idlib were again displaced in November and December 2017. The waves of displacement impose constraints on host communities as demand pushes up rental and commodity prices, while employment opportunities remain limited. Displaced persons, in particular female-headed households, suffer disproportionately to access basic rights, including the right to adequate housing. 62. The risks associated with the conflict, including the likelihood of violence, discrimination or detention constitute barriers preventing certain communities from returning to their places of origin immediately. Furthermore, the massive scale of destruction and contamination from explosive remnants of war throughout the country serve as long-term barriers which will require significant resources and political will to clear and make safe contaminated areas, reconstruct homes and infrastructure, and restore the fragmented social fabric of Syrian communities. 63. In this context, the Commission continues to receive reports concerning actual and proposed changes to the legislative framework on housing, land and property rights that have the potential to seriously limit the ability of internally displaced persons and refugees from returning to their homes. For instance, Law No. 33 of 2017 regulating the reconstitution of lost or partially damaged title deeds, which was approved by Presidential Decree on 26 October 2017, sets out detailed criteria for the identification and administrative and legal reconstitution of lost or damaged title deeds in respect of immovable property. 16 Although the provisions of the law, in particular its notification procedures, appear to comply with the right to a fair hearing, the law does not appear to address the situation of internally displaced persons or make provisions for their notification should they have a stake in decisions to reconstruct their titles either administratively or judicially. 64. Other laws that may impact the ability of internally displaced persons to access their properties are under consideration. For example, there have been reports that a recent draft law in the Syrian Parliament, which requires payment of US$ 8,000 to be exempted from military service and imposes financial penalties on those who fail to report or pay, also provides for the possibility of seizure by the Government of movable and immovable property. 17 Although the draft law had not been officially promulgated at the time of drafting the present report, interviewees believed that it was unofficially in force and they highlighted the difficulties that internally displaced persons faced to access reliable legal information concerning issues impacting property rights, which represents another barrier to their right to return to their places of origin. VII. Detained and missing persons 65. Throughout the Syrian Arab Republic, civilians continued to be arbitrarily arrested, tortured and held in inhuman conditions of detention. All parties to the conflict routinely denied detainees due process and fair trial rights. Detainees released in 2017 from Government-held facilities, including the Aleppo and Damascus Political Security branches, described being beaten during interrogation to provide information or to force confessions.18 Overcrowded cells, lack of adequate sanitation and lice infestations caused a variety of ailments, including the spread of skin infections. In many cases, detainees were released after their families paid bribes to the officials. 16 17 18 14 See www.sana.sy/?p=649244, “A law regulating the reconstitution of a lost or damaged real estate document”, 26 October 2017. See www.sana.sy/?p=656572, “The People’s Assembly approves a draft law concerning those who have passed the mandatory age for compulsory service and another on linking the public register of workers in the State with the Ministry of Administrative Development”, 8 November 2017. See also A/HRC/31/CRP.1.