A/HRC/19/69 opposition demonstrations or armed activities. The commission documented evidence that sections of Homs Military Hospital and Al Ladhiqiyah State Hospital had been transformed into torture centres. Security agents, in some cases joined by medical staff, chained seriously injured patients to their beds, electrocuted them, beat wounded parts of their body or denied them medical attention and water. Medical personnel who did not collaborate faced reprisals. 64. The above campaign has created a climate of fear. Doctors operated clandestinely on patients facing arrest and hospitals did not keep operated patients for post-surgical care. Some women chose to give birth in unsafe conditions rather than go to a State hospital. In many places of unrest, civilians set up clandestine field hospitals with volunteer practitioners, rudimentary equipment and medical supplies smuggled from abroad, donated by concerned citizens or diverted from State hospitals. 65. The commission received frequent accounts of security officials threatening men with the rape of female relatives. 66. On 19 January 2012, the Government informed the League of Arab States observers that it had released 3,569 detainees under the amnesty declared on 15 January. The observers were able to verify the release of 1,669 detainees under the said amnesty. 67. Given the large number of arbitrary arrests and the fact that most arrests and releases have occurred outside formal procedures, it is difficult to determine with any degree of certainty how many people remain in detention. The commission has requested the Government to provide pertinent figures. 68. According to the Violations Documenting Centre, which gathers the names of detainees and the place and date of their arrest from families and local coordination committees, more than 18,000 detainees, including more than 200 women and girls and more than 400 boys, remained in detention at 15 February 2012. 69. Armed groups, including FSA groups, carried out abductions. In some instances, victims were killed or tortured. 70. The Government informed the commission that, between 15 March and 19 December 2011, 666 civilians, 70 soldiers and 164 police officers were abducted. According to the Government, between 23 December 2011 and 10 February 2012 a further 506 military and security personnel were abducted. D. Deprivation of economic and social rights 71. While the population at large suffers as a result of the economic impact of the crisis and related sanctions (see paragraphs 34-36 above), communities in restive areas face particularly serious humanitarian concerns. There, formal economic activity and public services are collapsing and such essential supplies as fuel for cooking and heating, medical supplies and, in areas under blockade, increasingly also food, have become scarce. With men in hiding, arrested or killed, many women find themselves having to cope with a range of additional responsibilities in providing and caring for their families. 72. According to estimates, 70,000 people have been arbitrarily displaced within the country. More than 20,000 Syrians found themselves in a precarious situation as refugees in other countries. 73. The military and security forces continued to impose blockades on areas with a significant presence of anti-Government armed groups, including in Homs, Hama, Idlib and Rif Dimashq. Medicine, food and other essential supplies were not allowed to pass. State forces arbitrarily arrested and assaulted individuals who tried to bring in such supplies. The 14