A/HRC/42/CRP.1 detention centre to allow a family to visit because of serious concerns over the whereabouts of their relative.655 The visit was only allowed to take place once and then it was denied again with no reason given. The Group also received reports that the prohibition of family visits was used as a punishment of detainees. One released detainee (male) recalled, “I was forbidden to receive visits in the political security more than once because I was asking for treatments for allergies and asthma due to poor ventilation in cells.” 656 The length of the visits in the Political Security detention centre, when allowed, were extremely limited, the average being between one to three minutes. Family members, men and women, mentioned that they were subject to verbal insults by the guards during family visits. “During the visit, we would all be insulted. We would be insulted and cursed.” 657 Lack of access to adequate medical care, worsening effects of torture and ill-treatment 421. The Group reviewed cases where former detainees alleged that they suffered from serious illness, including mental health issues, or disability as a result of ill-treatment, torture, and inhuman detention conditions. The lack of access to professional medical care or adequate medication exacerbated their health problems and injuries.658 A former detainee reported being paralyzed as a result of his torture in a secret detention place in Sana’a. The Group was able to confirm his detention, medical condition and that he was denied access to specialized health care and adequate medication during his detention period. He reported difficulties in moving, accessing the toilets and was sometimes forced to use his own cell to defecate. He also reported that other detainees were occasionally placed in his cell to help him, as a means of punishment for them.659 Two former detainees recounted that an eye doctor, himself detained, had been asked to distribute to detainees a random assortment of medicines that the guards brought to the facility based on his evaluation of detainees’ needs and without allowing them access to a doctor.660 One detainee, who also sustained a grave injury to his back, reportedly as a result of torture, was denied access to a specialized doctor for a long period of time, which exacerbated his condition. He was given instead regular injections for the pain, until the person assigned to administer the injections within the detention centre reportedly refused to continue them for fear of causing him kidney failure. The detainee in question was finally, after nearly a year of detention, released on medical grounds.661 422. Testimonies also recounted the presence of persons with severe psychosocial disorders who were detained in cells shared with other detainees, without access to specific health care. This, in addition to concerns for their own wellbeing, represented an additional cause of stress, and also posed a threat of physical violence, including sexual assault,662 for the detainees not suffering from psychological disorders. The Group documented the case of a young male detainee, who allegedly suffers from severe psychosocial disorders as a result of acts of torture.663 While his detention is considered as arbitrary, his request for specialized external medical care was also denied. Instead, he is reportedly forced to receive injections inside the detention centre facilities, without the supervision of a medical specialist. This forced medical treatment was reported to affect his mental health condition even further. Deaths in custody linked to acts of torture and ill-treatment in detention 423. The Group of Experts received 10 cases of alleged deaths in custody relating to illtreatment in detention places in Sana’a between 2015 and 2016. The Group examined 664 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 104 Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File.