A/HRC/45/31 Al-Hawl.78 In this regard, the Commission has consistently called upon Member States to repatriate children and mothers in camps in accordance with their obligations under international law,79 however 2020 witnessed minimal repatriation of those in camps.80 74. In December 2019, the self-administration formalized criteria for the release of Syrians in Al-Hawl, noting that priority should be given to the sick and elderly, to the persons who had been kept the longest, to persons with Syrian identity documents and to those with “trustworthy” sponsors. In correspondence with the Commission, the selfadministration further elaborated on the procedure for release through this system. The Commission welcomes the fact that between December 2019 and February 2020, approximately 1,500 individuals were released. Unlawful deprivation of liberty 75. The Commission documented eight cases of arbitrary detention of civil society workers, political activists and persons of Arab ethnicity by the Syrian Democratic Forces and affiliated Kurdish People’s Protection Units/Women’s Protection Units, including by their military intelligence. Civilians were apprehended in towns in Raqqah and Hasakah Governorates and held in various intelligence facilities under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as in Ghweran Prison, the Al-Shadadi prison, the former Raqqah juvenile prison, and Ayed, Al-Aid and Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) prisons and were kept incommunicado in nearly all cases. The self-administration has outlined the legal safeguards for detainees, however the majority of interviewees reported that they had received no information on the charges or evidence against them, and nor had they had access to legal representation or been able to have their deprivation of liberty reviewed by a competent judicial authority. In four cases, individuals indicated that they had been interrogated on multiple occasions by representatives of the United States security services during their periods of detention in Syrian Democratic Forces facilities. 76. In line with previously documented cases, incidents of torture and ill-treatment were also reported. 81 For example, a member of an Arab tribe had been held by Syrian Democratic Forces military intelligence in incommunicado detention from March 2019 until March 2020, and accused of collaborating with Turkey. He had been held in military intelligence facilities in Hawarna, Darbasiyah, Malkiyah and Ya’rubiyah and in a makeshift prison in Al-Shadadi. The majority of time in detention had been spent in solitary confinement, with minimal food and water, and he had been regularly beaten by Syrian Democratic Forces military intelligence. He was released following a negotiated agreement with local tribes. In another case, a political activist was detained by Syrian Democratic Forces military intelligence in November 2019 and held in solitary confinement in Hasakah prison for the majority of his detention. He was regularly beaten and suffered a broken rib. The interviewee described being hung with his arms behind his back and kept in that position from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., resulting in paralysis to a number of fingers. He alleged that he had been tortured, including by electrocution and having weights attached to his genitals. Threats of rape had also been made. Administration of justice 77. According to the self-administration, as at 12 June 2020, 1,881 Syrians had been convicted for association with ISIL, whereas no trials of third-country nationals for association with ISIL had been held. In total, some 8,650 detainees had been brought to 78 79 80 81 16 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25899&LangID=E. Since this appeal, the girl has reportedly been moved out of the camp to an unknown location. A/HRC/43/57, para. 103 (e). See A/HRC/43/CRP.6, available from www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/ Session43/Pages/ListReports.aspx. Only five countries repatriated individuals in the first six months of 2020, according to the self-administration. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/AWayForward_DetentionInSyria.pdf.