Government forces and affiliated militias are arbitrarily or unlawfully detaining tens of thousands of individuals in official and makeshift detention centres throughout the Syrian Arab Republic.
The vast majority are being held without due process and are not allowed access to legal representation or to their families. They endure various forms of brutal torture and subsist in severely inhumane conditions. Many have died in detention, while others have been summarily executed. The bodies of those who have died as a result of torture, neglect, inhumane conditions, or from executions are rarely returned to their families, who are also not notified about burials. As the number of detainees has grown, so too have the unofficial and secret places of detention these individuals are held in.
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To learn more about the work of the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, go to OHCHR’s website here.