The Syrian Government Detention System as a Tool of Violent Repression

Table of Contents

• I. INTRODUCTION: THE USE OF THE SYRIAN DETENTION SYSTEM TO VIOLENTLY REPRESS OPPOSITION 4
• II. STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT 11
• III. THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT DETENTION SYSTEM HAS BEEN USED AS A TOOL TO INFLICT SEVERE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HARM 14
• A. Overview: severe physical and mental harm inflicted from arrest through release 14
• B. The Syrian Government’s massive arrest campaign has targeted perceived opponents 17
• C. Inhumane conditions of detention have been a pervasive part of the system used to coerce and punish detainees 28
• 1. Detention conditions in security branches, Military Police and military units, and military hospitals 30
• 2. Detention conditions in prisons 33
• 3. Corroborative medical forensic evidence 37
• 4. Corroborative findings by other judicial and human rights bodies and notice to the Syrian Government 39
• D. Detainees have been subjected to severe physical and mental harm in Syrian Government detention 40
• 1. Physical harm 40
• 2. Mental harm 46
• 3. Severe harm inflicted during interrogations 50
• 4. Corroborative medical forensic evidence 54
• 5. Corroborative findings by other judicial and human rights bodies and notice to the Syrian Government 57
• 6. Corroborative reports and evidence from non-governmental organisations 59
• E. Torture, ill treatment, and inhumane conditions have caused thousands of deaths in detention 62
• 1. Eyewitness accounts of former detainees 63
• 2. Corroborative medical forensic evidence 64
• 3. Corroborative findings by other judicial and UN human rights bodies regarding deaths in detention and notice to the Syrian Government 65
• 4. Corroborative reports by non-governmental organisations 66
• F. The Syrian Government’s judicial process has compounded mental harm, encouraged coerced confessions, failed to protect detainees from torture, and prolonged their detention 66
• 1. Lack of due process and mistreatment during court hearings 68
• 2. Torture and confessions referenced in court 70
• G. Incommunicado detention and enforced disappearance have caused severe harm to detainees and their family members 73
• 1. Harm to detainees caused by incommunicado detention 73
• 2. Harm to family members caused by enforced disappearance 75
• 3. Corroborative findings and observations by other UN human rights bodies and notice to the Syrian Government 80
• H. Detention-related crimes have caused ongoing harm and long-term consequences 83
• 1. Long-term physical consequences 83
• 2. Psychological impacts 84
• 3. Social consequences and harm 84
• 4. Impact of stigma 85
• 5. Economic consequences and harm 86
• 6. Deportation and fear of re-arrest 87
• IV. GOVERNMENT STRUCTURES INVOLVED IN THE DETENTION SYSTEM 88
• A. Overview: Relevant entities, de jure and de facto authority 88
• B. Syrian Government leadership and coordinating entities 89
• 1. President and Commander-in-Chief, and Regional Commander of the Baath Party 89
• 2. Baath Party 90
• 3. Central Crisis Management Committee (CCMC) (March 2011-July 2012) 91
• 4. National Security Bureau (NSB) 92
• 5. Security Committees 93
• 6. Joint Investigation Committees 94
• C. Intelligence agencies 94
• D. Military Police 98
• E. Military Hospitals 99
• F. Ministry of the Interior 100
• G. Judicial System 100
• H. Pro-Government militias 104
• V. THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT DETENTION SYSTEM FUNCTIONS AS A TOOL OF REPRESSION 107
• A. Overview: The Syrian Government has used the detention system to serve its objectives 107
• B. The Syrian Government has issued high-level instructions to ensure implementation of its policy to repress opposition by all means 110
• C. The Syrian Government has arrested thousands of people as part of its campaign to repress anti-Government dissent 113
• 1. Government entities issued and widely shared lists of people to arrest at Government checkpoints 113
• 2. The Syrian Government leadership required all security branches to participate in arrest campaigns and raids to arrest targets 115
• D. Syrian Government entities have coordinated the transfer of detainees across a vast network of detention facilities 117
• E. The Syrian Government has interrogated detainees, including through the widespread use of torture, to extract information to use against them and to generate additional targets 120
• F. The Syrian Government has used military hospitals and sanitised official reports to cover up the deaths of thousands of detainees who were killed in Government custody 124
• 1. High-level Government instructions established formal procedures for concealing the deaths of detainees in Government custody 124
• 2. Official Government documentation of detainee deaths concealed their true causes of death in Government custody 132
• G. The Syrian Government has controlled the release of detainees through a judicial system that has tolerated coerced confessions, denied due process protections and prolonged detention 134
• H. Despite being repeatedly confronted with notice of mass violations, the Syrian Government has continued to perpetrate detention-related crimes and has failed to take effective measures to prevent or redress them 136
• VI. ANNEX A – IIIM MANDATE AND METHODOLOGY 141
• VII. ANNEX B – MAPPING AND GEOCOORDINATES OF DETENTION FACILITIES 141
• VIII. ANNEX C – GLOSSARY 141