A-HRC-13-42

A/HRC/13/42
page 34
Oromo Liberation Front were allegedly held in, inter alia, 23 secret detention centres in Deder
district. 100 The existence of secret detention centres in Deder district was denied by the
authorities. 101
73. In South Africa, during states of emergency in the 1980s, at least 40,000 people were
detained, many of them charged with representing a danger to public peace. 102 Under the Internal
Security Act, administrative detention in some instances effectively amounted to secret
detention. In most cases, no one was allowed access to the detainee or to information about him
or her, and the name of the detainee could only be disclosed by the Minister for Law and Order
or a person authorized by him. 103
74. In the Sudan, the use of secret detention facilities, or “ghost houses”, has for years been the
subject of attention of both the United Nations human rights bodies and civil society. 104 These
were used mainly in the northern part of the country, but also in Darfur and Khartoum. 105 One of
the most notorious and well-known secret detention centres was the “City Bank” or al-Waha
(“the Oasis”). 106 The common pattern of detentions consisted of security officers arresting
individuals on suspicion of opposition activities, blindfolding them on the way to the detention
centres, and then subjecting them to severe torture for periods ranging from a few weeks to
several months, completely cutting them off from the outside world. 107 Amnesty International
100 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture (E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.1), para 156. See also the
report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
(E/CN.4/1998/68/Add.1), para. 165.
101 E/CN.4/1998/68/Add.1, para 168. See also the report of the Special Rapporteur on torture,
summary of cases transmitted to the Governments and replies received (E/CN.4/1998/38/Add.1),
para. 133.
102
D. Webster and F. Friedman, “Repression and the State of Emergency, June 87-March 89”,
South African Review, vol. 21, 1989.
103
Internal Security Act, section 50A (3). See also, J. Sarkin, “Chapter XII - South Africa”, in
Preventive detention and security law: a comparative survey, ed. by Andrew Harding and John
Hatchard, Dordrecht; Boston [etc.]: M. Nijhoff, cop. 1993.
104 See, inter alia, the report of the Special Rapporteur on torture (E/CN.4/1995/34), the joint
statement submitted to the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/NGO/22), para. 7, and the report of the Special Rapporteur on
torture (E/CN.4/1993/26), para. 417.
105
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (E/CN.4/1994/27).
106 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture (E/CN.4/1997/7), para. 185.
107
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Sudan (E/CN.4/1994/48).