A/HRC/25/65 attack by armed groups on eastern Alawite villages, 120 women and children were taken hostage and are being held, reportedly by Ahrar Al-Sham. 46. On 21 July, during an ISIS attack on Tal Abyad (Ar Raqqah), several hundred Kurdish men were taken hostage to effect a prisoner exchange for a captured ISIS commander. In July and August, Kurdish civilians were kidnapped for ransom by Jabhat Al-Nusra, in locations stretching from Qamishli to Al-Malikiyah. D. 1. Enforced disappearance Government forces and pro-government militia 47. In a conference room paper, the commission examined the occurrence of enforced disappearances in the Syrian Arab Republic between March 2011 and November 2013 (see annex IV). Reports of disappearances continue to be received. In September 2013, a 70year-old man was arrested by intelligence agents at the Nahar Aisha checkpoint (Damascus). His whereabouts remain unknown. 48. Syrian authorities systematically refuse to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or to notify the families of the fate or whereabouts of their relatives. Families are often afraid to approach the authorities. Means of obtaining information include former detainees and corrupt officials. 49. Enforced disappearance is committed as part of a widespread attack against the civilian population and constitutes a crime against humanity. 2. Non-State armed groups 50. ISIS is adopting practices that may lead to acts tantamount to enforced disappearance, in breach of their obligations under international humanitarian law. In August 2013, an activist disappeared in Ar Raqqah; a fellow detainee indicated that he was being held by ISIS, which denied this. On 9 December, three activists were seized in Dumah (Damascus). Currently listed as missing, their whereabouts and the identity of those holding them remain unknown. E. 1. Torture and ill-treatment Government forces and pro-government militia 51. Torture and other forms of ill-treatment by government forces and pro-government militia continue to be perpetrated extensively at detention facilities, by intelligence agencies, at checkpoints around besieged areas, during house raids, as a means to extract information and to punish and inflict terror on the population. 52. Torture and ill-treatment are routinely committed in official detention facilities (see annex V), in particular intelligence agencies such as the Political Security Branch in Aleppo, the Military Intelligence Branch 227 and Military Intelligence Branch 215, the Mezzeh Airforce Intelligence facility, the Qaboun Military Police Branch and Sednaya Prison in Damascus, the Gharez Central Prison in Dara’a and the Military Intelligence Branch in Homs. Methods of torture, including severe beatings about the head and body, prolonged hanging by the arms and sexual torture continue, as previously documented by the commission. Victims showed physical injuries consistent with a pattern of torture. 53. Abuses were also widely reported at checkpoints surrounding besieged areas, around Al-Ghouta in September, as well as the checkpoints around Kafr Shams (Dara’a) until September. The use of torture and ill-treatment is part of the siege strategy, employed in order to contain the local population. 10