A/HRC/13/42* page 4 legally regulated detention system; (d) holds a person for a short time in secret detention before handing them over to another State where that person will be put in secret detention for a longer period; and (e) has failed to take measures to identify persons or airplanes that were passing through its airports or airspace after information of the CIA programme involving secret detention has already been revealed. The study subsequently highlights the fact that secret detention in connection with counter-terrorism policies remains a serious problem on a global scale, through the use of secret detention facilities similar to those described in the study; the declaration of a state of emergency, which allows prolonged secret detention; or forms of “administrative detention”, also allowing prolonged secret detention. The cases and situations referred to, while not exhaustive, serve the purpose of substantiating the existence of secret detention in all regions of the world within the confines of the definition presented earlier. In their conclusions, the experts reiterate that international law clearly prohibits secret detention, which violates a number of human rights and humanitarian law norms that may not be derogated from under any circumstances. If secret detention constitutes an enforced disappearance and is widely or systematically practiced, it may even amount to a crime against humanity. However, in spite of these unequivocal norms, the practice of secret detention in the context of countering terrorism is widespread and has been reinvigorated by the “global war on terror”. The evidence gathered by the experts clearly shows that many States, referring to concerns relating to national security - often perceived or presented as unprecedented emergencies or threats - resort to secret detention. Secret detention effectively takes detainees outside the legal framework and renders safeguards contained in international instruments meaningless, including, importantly, that of habeas corpus. The most disturbing consequence of secret detention is, as many of the experts’ interlocutors pointed out, the complete arbitrariness of the situation, together with the uncertainty surrounding the duration of the secret detention, and the feeling that there is no way the individual can regain control of his or her life. States of emergency, armed conflicts and the fight against terrorism - often framed in vaguely defined legal provisions - constitute an “enabling environment” for secret detention. As in the past, extraordinary powers are today conferred on authorities, including armed forces, law enforcement bodies and/or intelligence agencies, under states of emergency or global war paradigms without, or with very restricted, control mechanisms by parliaments or judicial bodies. In many contexts, intelligence agencies operate in a legal vacuum with no law, or no publicly available law, governing their actions. Many times, although intelligence bodies are not authorized by legislation to detain persons, they do so, sometimes for prolonged periods. In such situations, oversight and accountability mechanisms are either absent or severely restricted, with limited powers and hence ineffective. Secret detention has relied on systems of trans-border (regional or global) cooperation; in many instances, foreign security forces indeed operate freely in the territory of other States. It also leads to the mutual exchange of intelligence information between States. A crucial element in international cooperation has been the transfer of alleged terrorists to other countries, where they may face a substantial risk of being subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman and