A/HRC/22/59 Annex VIII [English only] Torture and other forms of ill-treatmenta 1. Sixty-eight interviews were collected regarding the use of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Syria since 15 July 2012. 2. Under international human rights law, there is a clear prohibition on torture and other forms of ill-treatment. Syria is a party to the ICCPR, Article 7 of which reads, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” 3. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Syria is also a signatory, provides a more detailed definition of torture.b This definition, however, requires that pain and suffering be “inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity” and so would not encompass the conduct of anti-Government armed groups. Similarly, the prohibition set out in Article 13 of the Arab Charter of Human Rights imposes an obligation only on State parties. 4. International humanitarian law explicitly prohibits torture and other forms of illtreatment. Such conduct is a war crime. Torture and other inhumane acts may also constitute crimes against humanity.c I. Government forces and affiliated militia 5. The commission received 62 reports of the use of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by Government forces and affiliated militia, occurring since 15 July 2012. The majority — 36 — indicated that the abuses took place during interrogations by the Government’s intelligence agencies. There were also multiple reports of civilians being tortured in unofficial detention centres, at army checkpoints and military barracks, and during house searches by Government forces, sometimes accompanied by members of affiliated militia, notably local Shabbiha. 6. Twenty-nine interviewees indicated that they, or their family members, had been arrested and subsequently detained at official detention centres. The initial arrests took place at checkpoints, during house-searches and on the street (see A/HRC/22/59, annex VI). In two instances, the person arrested received a call from Political Intelligence demanding he come in for questioning. A further six interviewees were guards, or worked in other a b c GE.13-10627 See A/HRC/21/50, Annex II for the applicable law. Article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (‘CAT’) defines ‘torture’ as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.” See ICC Elements of Crimes, Article 7(1)(f). 67