A/HRC/13/42* page 112 Ministry of Interior were involved in degrading treatment of prisoners. Arrests warrants against them were allegedly issued, but no arrests have reportedly yet taken place.”428 227. In relation to Kurdistan province, UNAMI noted in 2006 that despite concrete acknowledgement by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of the arrest of individuals by intelligence and security forces and their detention at unofficial detention facilities, there appeared to be little impetus by the authorities to effectively address this pervasive and serious human rights concern. There had been little official denial of the existence and sometimes location of secret and illegal detention cells in Suleimaniya and Erbil, which were often no more than rooms in private houses and Government buildings. UNAMI reiterated in 2007 that: The practice of administrative detention of persons held in the custody of the Asayish (security) forces in the Kurdistan region, the majority having been arrested on suspicion of involvement in acts of terrorism and other serious crimes. Many are said by officials to be members or supporters of proscribed Islamist groups. Hundreds of detainees have been held for prolonged periods, some for several years, without referral to an investigative judge or charges brought against them. In some cases, detainees were arrested without judicial warrant and all are routinely denied the opportunity to challenge the lawfulness of their detention. UNAMI also continues to receive allegations of the torture or ill-treatment of detainees in Asayish detention facilities. … On 28 January and again on 27 February [2007], families of detainees arrested by Asayish forces demonstrated before the Kurdistan National Assembly in Erbil, demanding information on the whereabouts of detained relatives and the reasons for their arrest...429 In 2009, UNAMI further reported that: The KRG 2006 Anti-Terrorism Law, which forms the legal basis for many arrests, has been extended into mid-2010. …UNAMI/HRO continues to document serious violations of the rights of suspects and those deprived of their liberties by the KRG authorities. These include claims of beatings during interrogation, torture by electric shocks, forced confessions, secret detention facilities, and a lack of medical attention. Abuse is often committed by masked men or while detainees are blindfolded.430 228. The experts took up the case of a group of individuals arrested and held in secret detention for prolonged periods in the spring of 2009 in connection with accusations against Mr. al-Dainy, 428 Ibid., para. 92. 429 Ibid., paras. 73-75. 430 UNAMI, human rights report, 1 July - 31 December 2008, May 2009, paras. 91-92. See also Amnesty International, “Hope and fear: human rights in the Kurdistan region of Iraq”, April 2009, available from www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE14/006/2009/en/c2e5ae23b204-4b46-b7f5-06dc1501f62f/mde140062009en.pdf.