Syria has made torture a state policy against civilians, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Tuesday, calling it crime against humanity that should be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court. The New York-based rights group said it had identified 27 detention centers in Syria, plus government agencies involved and methods used against people suspected of opposing the Damascus-based regime. "The (Syrian regime's) intelligence agencies are running an archipelago of torture centers scattered across the country," said Ole Solvang, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. It said the 81-page report was based on more than 200 interviews, which Human Rights Watch began after the start of demonstrations against the regime in Damascus in early 2011. The report said most former detainees interviewed said they were tortured or had witnessed the torture of others.
