A/HRC/13/42* page 131 4. Torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment 289. Secret detention as such may constitute torture or ill-treatment for the direct victims as well as for their families. As many of the interviews and cases included in the present study illustrate, however, the very purpose of secret detention is to facilitate and, ultimately, cover up torture and inhuman and degrading treatment used either to obtain information or to silence people. While in some cases elaborate rules have been put in place to authorize “enhanced” techniques that violate international standards of human rights and humanitarian law, most of the time secret detention has been used as a kind of defence shield to avoid scrutiny and control, as well as to make it impossible to learn about treatment and conditions during detention. 5. Impact on other human rights and freedoms 290. The generalized fear of secret detention and its corollaries, such as torture and ill-treatment, tends to effectively result in limiting the exercise of a large number of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression and freedom of association. This fear often goes hand in hand with the intimidation of witnesses, victims and their families. Moreover, independent judiciaries and secret detention can hardly coexist; several examples identified by the experts indicated that the broader use of secret detention tends to lead to attempts to either influence or, worse, silence judges who take up cases of secret detention. 6. Witness protection and reparation 291. The experts are extremely concerned that many victims of secret detention from countries around the world indicated that they feared reprisals personally or against their families if they cooperated with the study and/or allowed their names to be used. The injustice done by secretly detaining somebody is prolonged and replicated all too frequently once the victims are released, because the State concerned may try to avoid any disclosure about the fact that secret detention is practiced on its territory. In almost no recent cases has there been any judicial investigation into allegations of secret detention, and practically no one has been brought to justice. Although many victims feel that secret detention has “stolen” years of their lives (the experts learned about one anonymous case of 30 years) and left an indelible mark, often in terms of loss of their jobs and frequently their health, they have almost never received any rehabilitation or compensation. B. Recommendations 292. On the basis of the above conclusions, the experts put forward the recommendations set out below. In practice, concrete measures will need to be taken, depending on the specific context: (a) Secret detention should be explicitly prohibited, along with all other forms of unofficial detention. Detention records should be kept, including in times of armed conflict as required by the Geneva Conventions, including with regard to the number of detainees, their nationality and the legal basis on which they are being held, whether as prisoners of war or civilian internees. Internal inspections and independent mechanisms should have