Torture, flogging, and summary killings are rife in secret prisons run by the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), an armed group that controls large areas of northern Syria, said Amnesty International in a briefing published on Thursday.
ISIS, which claims to apply strict Shari'a (Islamic law) in areas it controls, has ruthlessly flouted the rights of local people. In the 18-page briefing, Rule of fear: ISIS abuses in detention in northern Syria, Amnesty International identifies seven detention facilities that ISIS uses in al-Raqqa governorate and Aleppo.
"Those abducted and detained by ISIS include children as young as eight who are held together with adults in the same cruel and inhuman conditions," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Former detainees describe a shocking catalogue of abuses in which they or others were flogged with rubber generator belts or cables, tortured with electric shocks or forced to adopt a painful stress position known as aqrab (scorpion), in which a detainee's wrists are secured together over one shoulder.
Some of those held by ISIS are suspected of theft or other crimes; others are accused of "crimes" against Islam, such as smoking cigarettes or zina, sex outside marriage. Others were seized for challenging ISIS's rule or because they belonged to rival armed groups opposed to the Syrian government. ISIS is also suspected of abducting and detaining foreign nationals, including journalists covering the fighting in Syria.
Several children were among detainees who received severe floggings, according to testimonies obtained by Amnesty International.
Amnesty International called on ISIS to end its appalling treatment of detainees and for the group's leaders to instruct their forces to respect human rights and abide by international humanitarian law.
The London-based rights watchdog urged the international community to take concrete steps to block the flow of arms and other support to ISIS and other armed groups implicated in committing war crimes and other serious human rights abuses.
"The Turkish government, in particular, should prevent its territory being used by ISIS to bring in arms and recruits to Syria," said Philip Luther.
"As well, Gulf states that have voiced support for the armed groups fighting against the Syrian government should take action to prevent arms flows, equipment or other support reaching ISIS in view of its appalling human rights record," he added.
Amnesty International also renewed its call to the Syrian government to allow unfettered access to Syria by the independent international Commission of Inquiry and by international humanitarian and human rights organizations, and to end its violations of human rights and international law, including the use of torture in its own detention centers.
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