A/HRC/18/53 80. Civilians were shot at by security officers from helicopters, deployed to various demonstrations.73 No warnings were given before opening fire. 81. Victims and witnesses reported widespread attempts to cover up killings by the security forces, including the use of mass graves.74 In Al Ladhiqiyah, on 8 April, garbage trucks were seen collecting dead bodies. Civilians stored murdered victims in makeshift refrigerators during the sieges.75 There were several reports, however, of security forces killing injured victims by putting them into refrigerated cells in hospital morgues.76 82. The Syrian Arab Republic has violated its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights relating to enforced disappearances, particularly articles 2, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 14, and other articles relating to freedom. Many civilians, including children, have disappeared. Some bodies were returned to their families, many bearing marks of torture. The fate and whereabouts of hundreds of detainees remain unknown. Meanwhile, the mission continues to receive reports of enforced disappearances. B. Torture 83. Of the 180 witness accounts taken by the mission, 98 revealed torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment of civilians by military and security forces, which violate the State’s obligations under the Convention against Torture. A clear widespread or systematic policy appears to have been in place whereby security forces targeted people suspected of participating in demonstrations, with a view to intimidating and terrorizing them as a way to quell protests.77 Torture and ill-treatment were commonly used to obtain false statements from detainees. Many reports spoke of security forces breaking into homes and beating civilians, including women and children. After mass arrests, security forces and Shabbiha members transported detainees in buses and trucks to secret detention centres or public stadiums, where the victims were then inhumanely treated or tortured.78 Many victims were repeatedly subjected to torture upon their transfer from one detention facility to another.79 Former detainees cited cases of death in custody as a result of torture. Others referred to the torture of children.80 Security agents often forced family members of the deceased to sign a document stating that the person had been killed by armed gangs. 84. The mission documented numerous methods of torture, most of which are known to have been used in the Syrian Arab Republic over many years. They include severe beatings, electric shocks, suspension for long periods by the limbs, psychological torture and routine 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 22 Including Jisr a-Shughour and Ma’arrat Al Nu’man, in Idlib Governorate. The locations of alleged mass graves will not be disclosed until they can be secured or properly exhumed. For example, in Dar’a, bodies that could not be buried during the siege were stored in a refrigerated food truck. One of the cases reported to the mission took place in Dar’a. In Dar’a, Nawa, Al Yaduda, Jisr Al Shughour, Madaya, Homs, and Hama, among others. Detention centres cited in accounts and located in or around Damascus include Kafr Sousseh, Al Mezze, Adra and Al Qaboun; other cited detention facilities were in Idlib and Homs. Most appeared to be under the jurisdiction of one of the security agencies, including Air Force Intelligence, Military Security and Political Security. Victims were often immobilized on the ground by security agents, who stepped upon their faces and tied their hands, as well being inhumanely treated during their transfer to detention centres. Some people were taken to up to four detention centres, where they were abused. These cases included that of Hamza Al Khatib, aged 13, from Dar’a, who died in custody. It its note verbale of 14 June 2011, the Government denied this allegation.