A/HRC/19/68 Conditions of detention, including the lack of toilet facilities and severe overcrowding, constitute ill-treatment of detainees. 48. Rape and other types of sexual violence were also used in detention. The Commission interviewed several male and female former detainees, who described cases of rape and other forms of sexual assault. 3. Thuwar 49. During the second phase of its work, the Commission visited detention facilities in Misrata, Tripoli, Al Zawiyah, Tajoura and Zintan, which were run by individual brigades, security committees or military councils, or by the interim Government. It interviewed more than 100 Libyan and foreign current and former detainees. The Commission encountered compelling evidence of torture and ill-treatment. The methods most frequently used included beating with objects such as electric wires, rubber hoses, wooden sticks; the use of electric shocks; falaqa; and suspension in contorted positions. The purpose of the use of torture appeared to be the extraction of information or confessions, and\or punishment for alleged crimes. 50. At the end of the reporting period, most detained Qadhafi soldiers and alleged loyalists were still being held in unofficial centres outside the legal framework. 51. The Commission noted that detainees were especially vulnerable to torture upon their arrest, during the first days of detention and during interrogations. Many of those arrested were tortured in temporary facilities before being transferred to prisons or other locations. The Commission documented a pattern of severe torture, which was used in particular against Tawerghans by Misratan thuwar, who accuse them of committing rape and other crimes in Misrata. Detainees told the Commission that they confessed to serious crimes, including rape (which they denied committing), when they could no longer endure the torture. 4. Conclusions 52. The Commission found that Qadhafi forces used torture and ill-treatment in a widespread and systematic manner. 53. The Commission also found that Qadhafi forces and the thuwar used torture and illtreatment. Such acts constitute a violation of international human rights law and, when committed during armed conflict, constitute war crimes. E. Targeted communities12 1. Introduction 54. The Commission received reports of abuses against particular groups. It interviewed 111 witnesses in this regard and conducted on-site visits to Misrata, Tawergha, Al Khums, Tripoli, Abu Kammesh, Tiji, Awaniya and other towns. 2. Qadhafi forces 55. While the Qadhafi Government targeted people for arrest, torture and killing on the basis of their opposition to the Government, the Commission did not find evidence that one particular group had been targeted more than others. While some towns were historically 12 See ibid., chap. III, sect. E. 11