Nearly 18,000 died in Syria state jails in 2011-15, says Amnesty
11:53, 18 August 2016
LONDON. KAZINFORM Nearly 18,000 people died in government custody in Syria in 2011-15, an Amnesty International report says, alleging beatings and rape in prisons.
Amnesty says its document includes interviews with 65 "torture survivors", who have described appalling abuse in jails and detention centres.
The human rights group urges the world community to pressure Damascus to end the use of torture.
The Syrian government has repeatedly denied such allegations.
A UN human rights report in February accused the Syrian government of carrying out a state policy of extermination, and said both sides in the war were suspected of committing war crimes.
Amnesty estimates that more than 17,723 people died in custody across Syria between March 2011, when the uprising against President Bashar Assad began, and December 2015.
This is about 10 people each day, or more than 300 a month, Amnesty says.
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