A/HRC/30/48 F. Detainees 90. Men, women and children detained in the Syrian Arab Republic by various actors have been subjected to unlawful killing, severe torture and other forms of ill-treatment. 91. Nowhere are these violations more widespread and systematic than in detention centres of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic. Over 600 former detainees – held in intelligence agencies and prisons – have been interviewed since August 2011. Almost all have been victims and or witnesses of torture. Many have been present at the death of cellmates. 92. An untold number of people, mainly adult men, have died while detained, as a result of torture or poor living conditions inflicted upon the prison population. Authorities consistently fail to order investigations into credible allegations of torture and custodial deaths. Four years into the Syrian conflict, it is evident that the Government is responsible for the deaths of detainees on a massive scale. 93. Systematic patterns of torture were documented in Military Security branches 215, 227 and 235, Air Force Intelligence in Mezzeh military airport, and other detention facilities run by the Military Intelligence Directorate, the Air Force Intelligence Directorate, the General Intelligence Directorate, the Political Security Directorate and the armed forces. Detainees are held in overcrowded, dirty cells and are not given adequate food or medical care, even for life-threatening conditions. 94. Many detainees reported being subjected to prolonged suspension from their arms, resulting in paralysis of limbs. One prisoner witnessed detainees hung by their wrists from trees in a detention facility controlled by the 4th Division in Damascus. Detainees were frequently subjected to electrocution, including of genitals and other sensitive areas, and prolonged and severe beating with objects. In February, a man held in a State-controlled facility in Qamishli witnessed regular torture of emaciated fellow detainees. 95. Male detainees were frequently subjected to sexual violence, including rape. In 2014, a commander in General Intelligence Directorate’s Al-Khatib Branch subjected a male detainee to repeated sexual abuse, including rape. Female detainees were also raped and sexually assaulted while in Government detention. 96. Non-State armed groups established makeshift places of detention where captured suspected collaborators with the Government or members of enemy factions were held, and sometimes ill-treated and executed. Individuals taken hostage, usually for the purpose of prisoner exchange or to extract ransom, have on occasion died or been murdered while in the custody of armed groups. 97. Jabhat Al-Nusra subjected detainees to trials by Sharia courts that did not respect due process, sometimes resulting in summary executions. Civilians abducted from Ishtabraq in late April were detained in Harim prison, run by Jabhat Al-Nusra, in Idlib. Male detainees were reportedly tortured, including being beaten with electric wires. Detainees, including two pregnant women, were given inadequate food and received no medical care. Investigations are continuing with regard to deaths in detention in this facility. 98. ISIS continues to treat its detainees with brutality, subjecting some to torture and other ill-treatment, as well as to summary executions after unfair trials. Captured fighters from Government forces or adversary rebel factions were frequently tortured and executed. Bodies of victims are routinely desecrated and put on public display. Prisoners reported being subjected to lashing and other forms of torture. 13