Ill-treatment in detention HRDs are among the groups at greatest risk of torture and ill-treatment in detention. Their efforts to document and expose human rights violations, seek accountability, and mobilise communities in the pursuit of justice frequently incur the wrath of the authorities, who retaliate by inflicting both physical and psychological suffering on them. When dealing with HRDs, repressive governments not only use detention as punishment, they also apply punishment in detention. Data collected through OMCT’s Global Torture Index in 2026 under the sub-theme Right to Defend and Civic Space indicates that the risk of being subjected to torture and ill-treatment is rated ‘High’ in 18 of the 38 countries assessed. A further nine countries are rated ‘Very High’ and nine ‘Considerable’, while only two are rated ‘Moderate’ and none is rated ‘Low Risk’.10 SOS-Defenders data further underscores the severity of this risk. HRDs who were arbitrarily detained in 2025 were subjected to various forms of torture and ill-treatment, including: •P  hysical violence (beatings, assaults and chaining); • Psychological abuse (threats, harassment and forced confessions); • Secret and prolonged incommunicado detention; and • Detention in inhuman and degrading conditions (severe overcrowding, lack of medical care, starvation, substandard environmental conditions and prolonged solitary confinement). Despite these findings, there are compelling reasons to believe that violations against HRDs in detention remain significantly underreported, owing both to fears of further reprisals and to the limited access of external monitors and CSOs to many places of detention. 10. At https://www.omct.org/en/global-torture-index 11