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A/HRC/19/69 13 cameraman Ferzat Jarban was arrested by security agents while filming an anti-Government protest in Alqaseer (Homs governorate); he was found dead the next day, his eyes gouged out. On 29 December, citizen journalist Basil Al-Sayed was shot dead by State security forces while he was filming the violent crackdown on a demonstration in Homs. On 30 December, Shukri Ahmed Ratib Abu Burghul, a radio show host and censor for a Government newspaper, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Damascus. 56. In late December 2011, in accordance with the League of Arab States protocol, the Government recommenced issuing short-term visas to selected foreign journalists. Their movements within the country were often restricted and their contacts monitored by Government officials accompanying them. 57. On 11 January 2012, a shell exploded near a group of journalists covering demonstrations in Homs. French journalist Gilles Jacquier and several Syrians were killed. The Government and the FSA exchanged accusations over responsibility for the incident. The Government stated that it had launched an inquiry. C. Arbitrary arrests, torture, abductions and enforced disappearances 58. The Government has continued to arbitrarily arrest and detain suspected protesters, opposition activists, human rights defenders and deserters. Arbitrary arrests typically were not formally acknowledged and suspects were often held incommunicado without their families being notified about their arrest or whereabouts. 59. Arbitrary arrests across the country followed similar patterns. During protests, military and security forces would often encircle the protesters. Those arrested, including the wounded among them, would be transported in Government buses and trucks to detention centres operated by security agencies, sometimes after being temporarily held in facilities such as sports stadiums or schools. In addition, soldiers and security agents often carried out arrests at checkpoints on the basis of lists of wanted persons prepared by the local security branch. 60. More large-scale raids were conducted, especially in areas where defectors are presumed to be hiding or in areas perceived as being sympathetic to the protesters. The regular army normally cordoned off the area before security forces or elite army units, sometimes accompanied by Shabbiha, carried out house-to-house searches. In such raids, women were targeted for arbitrary arrest and detention, in many cases also to force male relatives to turn themselves in. Many women also emphasized the traumatic invasion of their privacy when security forces raided their houses, typically at night, and vandalized or looted their personal possessions. 61. The commission received additional testimonies from persons who, long after their family members were arrested, had received no information from the authorities or through informal channels about where their family members were and whether they were still alive. The commission remains concerned about such cases of enforced disappearance.16 62. Torture in places of detention continued. Victims and witnesses provided credible and consistent accounts of places and methods of torture. A list of 38 detention locations in 12 cities, where the commission documented cases of torture since March 2011, is annexed to the present report (annex XIII). 63. Security agencies continued to systematically arrest wounded patients in State hospitals and to interrogate them, often using torture, about their supposed participation in 16 A/HRC/S-17/2/Add.1, para. 59