A/HRC/29/42 the general climate of impunity thus created is conducive to the continued practice of arbitrary and extrajudicial killings in Eritrea. 5. Detention 48. The detention of persons, which begins arbitrarily at the time of arrest and continues unlawfully for long periods of time, is not subject to judicial review. The detention network in Eritrea is vast (see annex II), with many secret and unofficial facilities. Detainees are kept in a variety of facilities, including makeshift and open air camps, converted old buildings, metal containers (some of which buried underground), and in caves and holes. The practice of incommunicado detention is widespread. Persons detained on religious or political grounds are systematically kept incommunicado for periods that can last several years. 49. Conditions of detention are extremely harsh. When not held in solitary confinement or being used for labour (both common practices), inmates are locked night and day in extremely overcrowded cells characterized by unspeakable hygienic conditions. Proper toilets are not available in cells, and detainees are sometimes forced to sleep in human waste overflowing from the insufficient containers provided for this purpose. Access to fresh air and natural light is limited to bare minimum, often on purpose. Food rations are minimal and of poor nutritional quality, leading to hunger and starvation. Drinking water is frequently unclean and limited in quantity, despite the high temperatures experienced in many detention locations. In addition, the absence of health facilities and the lack or deliberate denial of medical care and medicines, coupled with the arbitrary imposition of punishment, exposes detainees to illnesses, epidemics and death. The harsh conditions of detention push some detainees to suicide. 50. The harshest conditions and the strictest regimes of detention are deliberately employed in a number of situations, including to punish those suspected of being a threat to national security, traitors or suspects of “cross-border crimes,” or during the investigative phase of detention, with the intent to obtain self-incrimination, to extract a confession or information or to force religious believers to recant their faith. Conditions of detention are often particularly inhumane at the beginning of the period of detention and improve slightly but incrementally up until release. 51. An unknown number of foreign combatants are detained in Eritrea, including at least five Djiboutian soldiers, on whom no information has been received since 2011. 52. Women are generally kept separated from men, but are rarely under the responsibility or attention of women officers. The lack of female officers responsible for and attending to female detainees puts them at increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence, and causes them unnecessary humiliation. The commission documented instances where children were detained together with adults in the same inhumane conditions and without attention to their specific needs. As with others, children are often held incommunicado. 53. With regard to detention, the Government is in violation of the rights to life; to liberty and security; not to be subject to torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment; to be treated with humanity and the inherent dignity of the human person; and to a reasonable standard of health. Incommunicado detention and solitary confinement, during which detainees are also denied contact with other detainees and even prison guards for prolonged periods of time, amounts to torture. Authorities are accountable for the violation of the right to life of detainees who are under their responsibility and who die in custody, including in cases of suicide. The commission finds that, in all these cases, the Government does not abide by its positive obligation to protect the life of persons in custody and its obligation of due diligence to investigate deaths. 11