President Bashar al-Assad has been operating a chain of 27 “detention centers” in order to put down any opposition to his rule. The international Human Rights Watch (HRW) report identifies generals running the torture centers, found in Syrian cities including Damascus, Idlib, Homs and Aleppo.

The report titled “Torture Archipelago” (torture chain), is based upon interviews and testimonies from former detainees. “The intelligence agencies are running an archipelago of torture centers scattered across the country,” reported a researcher at HRW in a press release.

Detainees (victims) that survived the ordeal reported the Assad government carried out more than 20 different types of torturous acts on men 18 to 35 years old. The torture was also extended to women, children and older people. Some of the acts reported included pulling out fingernails, being burned with acid, electrocution, mock execution, and threats of rape and death directed at family members.

The humiliation suffered by the tortured victims quoted in the Torture Archipelago is far too heinous to recount word-for-word. The HRW has requested that the U.N. Security Council and the International Criminal Court enact sanctions against those guilty of the many shocking acts. Syria is also being strongly urged to release all detainees and suspend security force members who have been named and accused of the heinous human rights violations, pending further investigations.