A/HRC/18/21 as a last resort. According to the Government, security forces used water cannons and tear gas to disperse allegedly unlawful and violent crowds, with many security forces and civilians ending up killed or injured. Protesters have therefore been charged with assault, pelting rocks and using live fire against security forces, other civilians and pro-Government supporters. The Government also alleged that protesters, mostly connected to the JMP, destroyed, vandalized, looted and broke into public and private property. 38. The Ministry of Health set up a commission which, after observing a small number of patients in hospitals and examining used gas canisters, concluded that the gases employed by Government security forces were innocuous. B. Arbitrary arrests and detention 39. Multiple sources, including relatives of victims reported hundreds of cases of unlawful detention and disappearance. Many indicated that applicable procedures regarding the need for State prosecutors to be notified of arrests had been disregarded, and many reported that detainees were transferred from one place of detention to another and that judges’ decisions to release individuals or transfer them to another town for trial were often not implemented. The Mission received lists of names of persons allegedly arbitrarily arrested and detained, but it is unable to determine the exact number. During a visit to detention cells operated by the Political Security in Sana’a, the Mission encountered Yemeni and foreign detainees who, after months or even years in detention, had neither been charged nor brought before a judge. 40. The Mission asked several officials about the cases of Hassan Baoom, a prominent figure in the Peaceful Southern Movement, who was reportedly kidnapped from Al-Naqeeb Hospital on 20 February 2011, and his son Ahmed, who was detained while searching for his father. The Mission received assurances that both were alive and that Hassan Baoom was sick and receiving adequate medical care. The Mission noted with concern that neither the family nor a lawyer had been able to see either individual for months, and that there was no information as to their exact location or the charges against them. 41. The Mission learned in its meetings that cases of arbitrary detention carried out by the Criminal Investigation Department and the Political Security had been brought to the attention of the State Prosecution. However, no information was available regarding any investigation, prosecution or disciplinary action against alleged perpetrators. The Chief Prosecutor in Tai’zz mentioned that he regularly visits the Central Prison in order to ascertain that detainees are not held arbitrarily. The Mission was told that similar visits took place in Aden. The Mission was unable to confirm whether prosecutors are granted access to all places of detention. 42. The Mission also heard first-hand about the existence of private detention facilities under the control of some of the armed opposition groups, but could not ascertain the number of detainees held. C. Torture and other forms of ill-treatment 43. The Mission received allegations about the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment against civilians, committed by several Government security bodies. In one instance, the Mission received reports of the torture of three persons in Aden during the events. Two of them reportedly died, while the third stated that he had been beaten with rifles, electrocuted, had cigarettes extinguished on his body and suffered attempts to hang him from the ceiling. The Mission did not receive information about investigation or prosecution of the perpetrators of these violations. 10