A/HRC/24/46 50. Military councils in Dara’a set up sharia courts to investigate allegations, operate detention facilities and conduct trials. In practice, court judges operate under the authority and instruction of the councils. Captured government soldiers or those that defected in Dara’a are reportedly not executed, but may be imprisoned for such crimes as spying. Those accused are not permitted defence counsel. 51. In Dayr az Zawr, armed groups accepted the jurisdiction of a local court. Judicial authority was exercised by legal scholars, religious scholars and legal professionals that had defected from the Government and applied a hybrid of Islamic and Syrian civil law. 52. The war crime of murder and the crime of executing without due process were perpetrated by anti-government armed groups. 3. Kurdish armed groups 53. In June, in the town of Amudah (Al Hasakah), several protestors were shot and killed by YPG forces. A 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were among the deceased. Rocks and bottles had been thrown at YPG fighters, and they claimed that one of their ranks had been shot. The YPG committed an abuse of human rights associated with the disproportionate use of force. B. Arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention 54. Thousands of people have been apprehended since the conflict began. Most face a string of interwoven human rights violations, often culminating in their torture or death. Some bribe their way out; a relatively small number were “amnestied”. Others eventually appeared before a judge and were sentenced. Most languished in overcrowded cells with no access to judicial oversight, legal counsel or their families. 1. Government and pro-government forces 55. Since 2011, government forces have conducted arbitrary arrests on an enormous scale. Males over the age of 15 years were routinely arrested during raids. Arrests are increasingly made by entities with no or dubious arresting authority, such as the National Defence Forces. In June, Hizbullah arrested Syrians in Dayr Atiyah. Detainees were typically held for days outside the law and subjected to severe maltreatment before being transferred to security services. 56. A presidential decree promulgated in March required all 18-year-olds to report for military duty, or face arrest. Boys appearing to be 18 were detained at checkpoints. At AlMadakah checkpoint (Dara’a), soldiers routinely arrested and ill-treated young men on the pretext that they had not enlisted. 57. Internally displaced persons are especially vulnerable to arbitrary arrest as they fled conflict-affected areas, often without documents. Arrests appeared to be predicated on the person’s originating from a restive area or being a family member of wanted persons, such as defectors. Cases of internally displaced persons arrested at checkpoints were recorded in Al-Nabak (Damascus countryside), Al-Madakah (Dara’a), Qusayr, Al-Houlah (Homs), AlBayda (Tartus) and Masharah (Al-Qunaytirah). In May and June, in Job Al-Jarrah (Homs), National Defence Forces raided the area, arresting displaced Sunnis in what was viewed as an attempt to evict them. 58. In some cases, family members were arrested if the person wanted could not be found. In one case, a girl, released from detention in April in Damascus, was arrested to gain information on her brother’s activities. In Karnaz (Hamah) in March, soldiers detained the wife and children of a wanted man. 9