A/HRC/21/50 various neighbourhoods of Homs city. While held in unofficial centres, interviewees reported abuse by members of the army and by Shabbiha. 7. In a further nine cases, interviewees stated that they were beaten or otherwise assaulted during house searches or at checkpoints or witnessed the assault of others. While most interviewees were adult men, one was a young woman living in a village in Homs governorate in April 2012. She stated that she had been beaten by soldiers when she placed herself between them and her elder brother. In none of these cases were the victims subsequently detained. B. Reports of torture and other forms of ill-treatment in official detention centres 8. Reported methods of torture were consistent across the country. Interviewees described severe beatings about the head and body with electric cables, whips, metal and wooden sticks, and rifle butts; being burnt with cigarettes; being kicked; and being subjected to electric shocks applied to sensitive parts of the body, including the genitals. Six of those interviewed reported losing consciousness at points during their interrogations. 9. The commission also received multiple reports of detainees being beaten on the soles of the feet (falaqa). Common practices described included the placing of detainees into prolonged stress positions, including hanging from walls or ceilings by their wrists (shabah) and hanging by wrists tied behind their backs. Other methods reported were forcing detainees to bend at the waist and place their head, neck and legs through a car tire while beatings were administered (dulab); tying the detainees to a flat board with their head unsupported and either stretching them (as on a rack) or folding the board in half (the ―flying carpet‖). As detailed in annex VIII (Sexual violence), some detainees reportedly suffered rape and other forms of sexual violence in the course of their detention. For many interviewees, scars and wounds, consistent with their accounts, were still visible. 10. Several forms of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment meted out to detainees did not result in physical evidence. Reports detailed detainees being forcibly shaved, made to imitate dogs and to declare ―there is no God but Bashar‖. Other interviewees stated that they had been forced to strip and remain naked for prolonged periods. Three of those interviewed stated that they had been threatened with execution. One said he had been present when another detainee was threatened with sexual assault; another stated that his interrogators had threatened to arrest and rape female relatives. 11. One female interviewee stated that she, along with her nine year old sister, were arrested in May 2012 and taken to a Military Intelligence branch in Dar‘a governorate. She reported that her father was suspected of supporting the anti-Government armed groups. During the interrogation, which she stated was conducted by female interrogators, the interviewee was reportedly tied to a chair, had her breasts grabbed, being slapped and had her headscarf removed. She and her sister were released within a week. She stated that her sister had also been beaten while in detention. 12. Another interviewee, a 14-year-old boy who said he had taken part in protests in Idlib, reported that he had been arrested and detained in the Military Intelligence branch in Idlib in March 2012. He stated that he had received electric shocks and been beaten with a pipe during this interrogation. 13. Six of those interviewed had been moved among multiple detention facilities, run by different intelligence agencies. One interviewee reported being moved among ten different detention centres across four governorates in a five month period. Another interviewee was transferred among four different locations in Dar‘a and Damascus, again over a five month 87