A/HRC/28/69 33. In this reporting period, multiple, consistent accounts of the deaths of detainees have been recorded in Air Force Intelligences branches at Mezzeh Military Airport and Harasta; Military Security branches 215 (Raids branch), 227 (Damascus regional branch) and 235 (Palestine branch); and Sednaya prison. 34. Most accounts of deaths come from the deceased’s cellmates or former detainees. In some cases, family members were informed of the deaths and received the bodies of their relatives. In every case where a body was returned, it bore marks of severe torture. 35. People died in custody as a result of acts and omissions on the part of the Government authorities. Some are killed while being tortured in interrogation sessions or during beatings by prison guards in the cells. In some cases, detainees are returned to the cells with life-threatening injuries to which they soon succumb. 36. Injuries sustained as a result of torture became fatal due to the victims’ receiving little or, more often, no medical treatment. In other instances, detainees had pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure. The lack of medical care, coupled with the conditions of detention, led to easily preventable deaths of detainees. 37. The severe overcrowding and squalid conditions of detention have led to inmates’ becoming extremely ill – chronic diarrhoea and skin infections were often reported. The lack of medical treatment, access to toilet and shower facilities, adequate food and potable water led to the physical weakening and eventual death of detainees. Some detainees who lost substantial body weight, had on-going injuries and were still undergoing torture in interrogations and while detained in cells did not have the physical stamina required to continue to survive inside Government detention centres. 38. There has been an increase in reports of family members being informed by the Government of the death of their relatives. Multiple interviewees stated that they had been directed to Tishreen Military Hospital in Barzah (Damascus) to collect a death certificate, and occasionally their relative’s identification documents. The death certificates often indicate that the detainee died of “cardiac arrest” or “stroke”. 39. Most families who receive death certificates did not receive the body. In response to inquiries, Government authorities occasionally reportedly stated that the deceased had already been buried. Some relatives of victims were told that bodies are buried in a mass grave in Najha cemetery (Rif Damascus). Other than the death certificate, families received no further documentation or proof that the victim died. 40. In late December 2013, a man was called for interrogation at a local intelligence office in Damascus city and subsequently disappeared. A family member heard from a detainee who had been held at branch 215, that the man had also been detained and had died there after being tortured. The family visited a security branch in Damascus in late 2014 and received a death certificate issued by Tishreen Military Hospital. The death certificate was dated in early October 2014 and stated that the relative had died in mid-July 2014. The cause of death was listed as ‘cardiac arrest’. The family never received the body. The family of a man arrested during the Government attack on Hosh Arab (Rif Damascus) was held in branch 227. His family received his death certificate from Tishreen Military Hospital in May 2014, but did not receive the body. 41. In mid-2014, a doctor was transferred from a detention facility in Damascus to Air Force Intelligence in Mezzeh Military Airport where he was held until October. While there, he witnessed the deaths of five other inmates. Two detainees died of pre-existing medical conditions, aggravated by the conditions of detention and the lack of any medical care. In both instances, the detainee informed the prison guards that the men were dying but this elicited no response. In the case of the other deaths, the men had been severely tortured 31