A/HRC/33/55 D. Torture 92. The continuing use of torture in the Syrian Arab Republic dramatically underscores the impunity with which the warring parties conduct themselves. Torture is employed as a means of extracting information, and to punish and inflict terror on the civilian population. 93. The use of torture by government forces, particularly its intelligence and security agencies, has been documented by the Commission since its inception. It is extremely rare to find an individual who has been detained by the Government who has not suffered severe torture. 94. The majority of victims are men between the ages of 18 and 60. However, government officials also torture women and children in their custody. The accounts collected relate to torture in government detention centres occurring between 2011 and the reporting period. Some former prisoners only felt able to speak about what they had endured once they had become refugees and lived in places that granted them greater assurances of their physical safety. Others were so traumatized that it took them months, sometimes years, before they were willing to speak about being tortured. 95. Some victims were targeted for arrest because they were activists or otherwise perceived to be not sufficiently supportive of the Government. In other cases victims of torture were, or were perceived to be, members of armed groups or related to members of such groups. A woman believed to have been involved in food distribution in an area not controlled by the Government was arrested in Hama in mid-2014. She was transferred to an intelligence agency in Homs where she was beaten, hung by her wrists and given electric shocks. When transferred to Military Security Branch 235, she saw guards kick male detainees and beat them with pipes and cables. 96. Many victims display physical scars of the abuse they suffered. One man, held in an intelligence agency in Damascus city in 2015, had nerve damage as a result of being hung from his wrists, with his hands tied behind his back, for prolonged periods of time. Former detainees suffer from the psychological after-effects of torture, including feelings of anger, depression and isolation. 97. Conditions in places of detention, particularly those controlled by intelligence agencies, remain abysmal. Former detainees reported a dearth of food, potable water, space, sleep and hygiene and medical care. Reports of lice infestations and infected wounds continue to be regularly recorded. One detainee, held in Hama prison for over three years, stated he had lost more than half his body weight while detained. One woman, held in Dayr az-Zayr in 2015, described losing so much weight that she stopped menstruating. 98. Poor detention conditions had a particularly negative impact on prisoners with physical disabilities. One man, held in a western Syrian governorate, was paralysed on his right side. He relied on other prisoners to assist him in eating, bathing and using the bathroom. 99. The failure of those in charge of detention centres to provide detainees with medical care had a profound impact on those with chronic illnesses and diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and epilepsy. Lack of access to medical care hastened, and in some cases caused, the death of detainees. 100. Between March 2015 and February 2016, Ahrar al-Sham held hostage approximately 55 men, women and children from Idlib city. Some of the hostages, including one woman, were beaten and given electric shocks. While held in Idlib prison, male hostages were beaten. They received little food and no medical care or access to sunlight. 15