A/HRC/19/68 68. The Commission interviewed five people accused of raping men and women during the conflict. While these people did provide some specific details, the Commission believes that there is a strong possibility that the confessions were made under torture and were therefore not reliable. The Commission received one credible interview from a local organization that detailed five different rapes over five nights committed in Misrata by the interviewee and his colleagues. 3. Thuwar 69. The Commission received limited evidence of cases of rape and sexual violence committed by the thuwar. It interviewed two victims, known to be Qadhafi loyalists, who had been sexually tortured by thuwar members in detention centres. 4. Conclusions 70. The prevailing culture of silence, the lack of reliable statistics, the evident use of torture to extract confessions and its sheer political sensitivity all make this issue the most difficult one for the Commission to investigate. The Commission found that sexual violence occurred in Libya and played a significant role in provoking fear in various communities. It established that sexual torture was used as a means to extract information from and to humiliate detainees. It did not find evidence to substantiate claims of a widespread or a systematic attack, or any overall policy of sexual violence to be used against the civilian population. The information received was, however, sufficient to justify further investigation to ascertain the extent of sexual violence. G. Attacks on civilians, civilian objects, protected persons and objects14 1. Introduction 71. In its first report, the Commission indicated that, with regard to attacks on civilians, civilian objects, protected persons and objects, it did not have access to full information allowing it to definitively evaluate allegations of violations of international humanitarian law.15 As part of its continuing investigations, the Commission subsequently conducted more than 75 interviews on this issue and inspected the destruction in towns across Libya. 2. Qadhafi forces 72. The Commission visited a number of areas affected by the fighting, including Misrata, Al Zawiyah, Nalut, Yafran, Zintan and Sirte. It found that Qadhafi forces had used inherently indiscriminate weapons, as well as weapons prohibited by many nations, including landmines and cluster bombs, causing considerable suffering to the civilian population and damage to civilian objects. 73. Misrata endured some of the most protracted fighting during the conflict. The city was under siege for more than three months, from March to May 2011, when Qadhafi forces retreated from its centre. Indiscriminate shelling of the city continued sporadically until August 2011. Unlike other areas where the civilian population was evacuated, civilians were trapped inside the city. Its port, which provided the only means of evacuation of the war-wounded and civilians, as well as entry of humanitarian aid, was also targeted by Qadhafi forces. Senior Qadhafi military officers interviewed by the Commission confirmed that several attempts were made, some of them successful, to mine the Misrata port. The 14 15 14 See ibid., chap. III, sect. G. A/HRC/17/44, para. 170.