A/HRC/40/CRP.1 of temperature, denial of privacy and forced nakedness.”464 In particular, the Commission recalls that solitary confinement may constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, particularly if it exceeds 15 days or for indefinite periods of time. 465 The Commission finds reasonable grounds to believe that in many cases, the conditions in which detainees are held, including in particular solitary confinement of more than seven months amounts to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. These acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are violations of Article 18 of the Transitional Constitution (2011).466 They are also violations of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act (2008) which provides that “An arrested person shall not be subjected to any treatment against human dignity nor shall he or she be physically or morally abused.”467 Such acts also amount to crimes under South Sudan’s Penal Code (2008), including criminal force (section 224). In addition to being violations of the Convention Against Torture, these acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are also violations the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,468 and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. 469 The Commission also finds reasonable grounds to believe that there was a nexus between the commission of some of these instances of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and the non-international armed conflict has been ongoing in South Sudan since December 2013, as many of these acts occurred in the context of interrogating detainees about their knowledge and support of opposing armed groups. As such, they are violations of international humanitarian law under Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol II to which South Sudan is a party and which it has implemented in its Geneva Convention Act (2012). They should also be investigated and prosecuted as war crimes, including under Article 4(a) (violence to life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons, in particular murder, as well as cruel treatment such as torture, mutilation or any form of corporal punishment) and 4(e) (outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, rape, enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault), as well as Article 6 (which covers serious crimes under the Relevant Laws of South Sudan, including torture, and gender-based crimes) of the Draft Statute of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan. 11. a) Responsibility Individual Responsibility The violations and crimes described in this section were perpetrated in both official and unofficial detention facilities by officers and officials of the National Security Services and the SPLA Military Intelligence Directorate, many of whom were identified by their names, ranks and functions by witnesses interviewed by the Commission, especially witnesses who were detained for lengthy periods of time and therefore came to know the 464 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Istanbul Protocol Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, para. 145(m), Professional Training Series No. 8, Rev. 1 (2004). 465 “[T]he Special Rapporteur concurs with the position taken by the Committee against Torture in its General Comment No. 20 that prolonged solitary confinement amounts to acts prohibited by article 7 of the Covenant, and consequently to an act as defined in article 1 or article 16 of the Convention. For these reasons,[…] any imposition of solitary confinement beyond 15 days constitutes torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, depending on the circumstances.” Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Interim Rep. of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, para. 76, U.N. Doc. A/66/268 (Aug. 5, 2011) (by Juan Mendez). “Furthermore, [the Committee] is concerned about the use of solitary confinement for indefinite periods of time. [...] Full isolation of 22 to 23 hours a day in super maximum security prisons is unacceptable (art. 16).” Comm. against Torture [CAT], Concluding observations on the combined third to fifth periodic reports of the United States of America, para.20, U.N. Doc. CAT/C/USA/CO/3-5 (19 December 2014). See also Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (2013) G.A. Res 68/156, para. 28, (18 December 2013). 466 Transitional Constitution (2011), Article 18. 467 Code of Criminal Procedure Act (2008), section 93(1). 468 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A), Article 5. 469 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Article 5. 73