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SHADOW OF IMPUNITYTORTURE IN MOROCCO AND WESTERN SAHARA39remains detained. 57Individuals recently held in garde à vue detention also painted a consistent picture ofextremely poor conditions in the holding cells of police and gendarmerie stations that amountto ill-treatment and also constitute psychological torture (see box below). Most described anabsence of beds; unhygienic cells containing pungent and sometimes overflowing toilets;near-systematic deprivation of food and sometimes drinking water; and inadequate medicalcare in cases of injury or illness. Similar hardship awaits those placed in pre-trial detention orimprisoned, revealed by a comprehensive study by the CNDH. 58PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTUREAlthough the Convention against Torture equally prohibits psychological and physical torture,psychological torture remains insufficiently understood and recognized.The Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman orDegrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol) includes a non-exhaustive list of techniques ofpsychological torture, including, among others:“(m) Conditions of detention, such as a small or overcrowded cell, solitary confinement, unhygienic conditions,no access to toilet facilities, irregular or contaminated food and water, exposure to extremes of temperature,denial of privacy and forced nakedness;(n) Deprivation of normal sensory stimulation, such as sound, light, sense of time, isolation, manipulation ofbrightness of the cell, abuse of physiological needs, restriction of sleep, food, water, toilet facilities, bathing,motor activities, medical care, social contacts, isolation within prison, loss of contact with the outside world(victims are often kept in isolation in order to prevent bonding and mutual identification and to encouragetraumatic bonding with the torturer);(o) Humiliation, such as verbal abuse, performance of humiliating acts;(p) Threats of death, harm to family, further torture, imprisonment, mock executions;(q) Threats of attack by animals, such as dogs, cats, rats or scorpions;(r) Psychological techniques to break down the individual, including forced betrayals, accentuating feelings ofhelplessness, exposure to ambiguous situations or contradictory messages;57Written testimony by Mbarek Daoudi on circumstances of arrest and detention, 1 November 2013.Amnesty International also accessed a copy of a complaint on torture filed with the CNDH on 12November 2013. Correspondence from the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights to AmnestyInternational, 30 March 2015 (N. 20151743).58CNDH, Crisis in Prisons: A Shared Responsibility - 100 Recommendations for Protecting the Rights ofPrisoners, (2012), http://www.cndh.ma/an/thematic-reports/crisis-prisons-shared-responsibility-100-recommendations-protecting-rightsIndex: MDE 29/001/2015 Amnesty International May 2015