1. INTRODUCTION
This briefing is submitted to the Committee against Torture (hereafter the Committee) in connection with its consideration of Syria’s first periodic report on its implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereafter the Convention). It details Amnesty International’s concern about a persistent pattern of torture and other ill?treatment of political detainees while held in often prolonged incommunicado detention for interrogation by Syria’s security and intelligence agencies (notably, Military Intelligence, Political Security and State Security); unfair trials, including the acceptance by courts of “confessions” allegedly obtained under torture or other ill?treatment; beatings and other ill?treatment of inmates by prison guards; and the failure of the authorities to ensure that all allegations of torture and other serious violations of human rights are independently investigated and that those responsible for abuses are brought to justice.
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