Human Rights Watch has released a report revealing the Assad regime's extensive underground torture network. Based on interviews with former detainees and government defectors, they detail the use of at least 20 separate torture methods, mostly at the hands of the regime's intelligence agencies. One detainee describes his experience:
They forced me to undress. Then they started squeezing my fingers with pliers. They put staples in my fingers, chest and ears. I was only allowed to take them out if I spoke. The staples in the ears were the most painful. They used two wires hooked up to a car battery to give me electric shocks. They used electric stun-guns on my genitals twice. I thought I would never see my family again. They tortured me like this three times over three days.
The Dish 