Nearly 18,000 have died after 'appalling abuse' in Syrian jails, says Amnesty

Syrian authorities are committing torture on a "massive scale" in government prisons including beatings, electric shocks, rape and psychological abuse that amount to crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said on Thursday. More than 17,700 people are estimated to have died in custody in Syria since the country's conflict began in March 2011, an average of more than 300 each month, the watchdog said in a report. Anyone seen as an opponent of the government is at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and death in custody, according to Amnesty.
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