A/HRC/19/68 January 2012. The detainees were initially held outside the domestic legal framework, often in unacknowledged places of detention. A large number of them were tortured. 4. Conclusions 42. The Commission concluded that Qadhafi forces arbitrarily detained persons it suspected were supporting the thuwar. While many detainees may have been fighters, the Commission found that family members and peaceful demonstrators had also been detained. Detainees were not afforded the requisite legal protections, in violation of the State’s domestic and international human rights obligations. 43. The thuwar were found to have been involved in cases of the arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance of perceived Qadhafi loyalists, security officers and members of the former Government. The Commission is concerned that the thuwar applied a presumption of guilt to those who fought against them or who are believed to have supported the Qadhafi Government. Moreover, many detainees were being held outside the framework of the law, thus rendering their continued detention per se arbitrary. D. Torture and other forms of ill-treatment11 1. Introduction 44. The Commission received reports of torture and other forms of ill-treatment perpetrated on a wide scale by both Qadhafi forces and the thuwar. It visited more than 20 places of detention, both official and unofficial, under the control of the former Government and the thuwar. The Commission interviewed 150 detainees, victims and perpetrators. Its investigators examined the wounds of torture victims and reviewed medical files. The Commission also met with relatives of victims, prison commanders and nongovernmental organizations. It established that torture had been both widespread and systematically perpetrated in Libya throughout phases II and III of the conflict. 2. Qadhafi forces 45. The Commission interviewed 35 people who had been tortured by Qadhafi forces. The torture methods catalogued included severe beating, including on the soles of the feet (falaqa), electric shocks to the genitalia, burning, threatening detainees with dogs, suspension over doors, hanging from bars, and detention in small spaces or in solitary confinement for extended periods. The Commission verified most claims by examining victims’ wounds, scars and medical reports and by visiting sites. 46. Cases of torture were reported in official and unofficial detention facilities as Qadhafi forces sought information on opposition activities. Torture was also used during arrest or searches in houses of suspected members of the thuwar. The most severe forms of torture were generally used immediately after arrest and during interrogations on thuwar strategy and the location of weapons. The Commission gathered compelling evidence of the use of torture on suspected fighters and other opponents in various prisons, including Ein Zara, Abu Salim and Jdeida, and in the locations of intelligence agencies. 47. Torture was also found to have been rampant in unofficial detention centres, including in Yarmouk and Al Khums. The Commission interviewed former detainees of such facilities, who reported cases of severe beatings and the use of electric shocks. 11 10 See A/HRC/19/CRP.1, chap. III, sect. D.