A/HRC/45/31 Abasin, Harasta and Mazzah and the headquarters in Damascus, the Military Police branch in Qaboun, State Security Branch 285, the Political Security Directorate branch in Tartus Central Prison and Air Force Intelligence Branch 227, and, most brutally, at Saydnaya Prison in Rif Damascus. In line with previous patterns,28 the detainees were beaten with sticks and cables, bound around tyres, hung from ceilings and walls and lashed. One detainee reported being beaten on his genitals. Interviewees also reported witnessing female detainees being sexually assaulted by staff 29 at a number of informal detention sites, including Branch 227, while men were reported to have been sexually abused in Saydnaya Prison.30 26. Inhumane conditions were described across both official and informal detention centres. One interviewee detailed how over a dozen people had been held in a 2 x 1 metre cell for over two weeks in Air Force Intelligence Branch 227. Another detainee in Saydnaya Prison had been placed in solitary confinement in a 1.5 x 1 metre cell, with no blanket or floor mat, for three months. One interviewee detailed how water had been cut off from their cell, where the toilets were placed, for 23 days, resulting in there being faeces, urine and vomit around the room. Typical food in a 24-hour period included one loaf of bread with four olives, and detainees described eating the olive pits in order to get extra nutrition. 27. Previous patterns of death in detention31 continued, with reports of at least 19 cases during the reporting period.32 One man in Dar’a was allegedly accused of treason in late 2018 and his family was given his death certificate in February 2020. Another interviewee, who tried to visit her 17-year-old son in Saydnaya Prison in December 2019, was informed that he had died and she should approach Tishrin Military Hospital in Damascus, however his body was not at the facility. This was the pattern in the majority of cases, with no body being provided to families and only verbal information provided about the death, or cause of death. In a small number of cases, individuals’ bodies were provided to families following deaths in State custody. The family members of one detainee who had been arrested in Damascus in March 2020 were informed that they should collect the body, following the detainee’s alleged death from a heart attack, from Tishrin Military Hospital in Damascus in May. The body exhibited injuries and signs of torture. 28. The Commission continues to receive information about limited numbers of persons being released from detention, with 49 persons (including one woman and two children) reportedly released in Dar’a in the reporting period. The Commission also documented a small number of releases elsewhere in the country. Economic and social rights 29. Previously reported concerns regarding access to water, electricity and fuel 33 were aggravated by the rapidly deepening economic and currency crisis, and were further compounded by the global pandemic and tightening sanctions (see para. 9 above). This, in turn, risked refuelling the root causes of the conflict, which included deepening poverty and inequalities. 30. Areas formerly under the control of armed groups were particularly affected, due to the continued denial of freedom of movement of people and goods. Checkpoints, in addition to aggravating tensions with communities due to their links with enforced 28 29 30 31 32 33 See A/HRC/31/CRP.1 and www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/ AWayForward_DetentionInSyria.pdf. As previously documented; see A/HRC/37/CRP.3, available from www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/ HRC/IICISyria/Pages/Documentation.aspx. See A/HRC/37/CRP.3, paras. 27–50. See A/HRC/31/CRP.1, para. 46; and www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/AWayForward_DetentionInSyria.pdf. This figure represents the number that has been reported to families of detainees by authorities, however no confirmation of death can be ascertained given the frequent lack of bodies and of death certificates. A/HRC/43/57, para. 67. 7