Syria torture allegations are 'no surprise'

It will come as no surprise to find the syrian authorities accused of the systematic use of torture against those it deems its enemies.

After all, as today's report from Amnesty International makes clear, torture has a long and inglorious history under the rule of the Assad family.

But that doesn't lessen the horror of reading the testimony of its victims.

Amnesty says those detained during the uprising, and there are many thousands, enter a nightmarish world of savagery.

They detail 31 separate methods of torture; beatings, electrocution, male rape.

One victim ITV News spoke to descibed how he finally confessed when he was forced to watch his own father tortured in front of him.

The regime says it is combating terrorist gangs. For sure, it is abundantly clear it will try to hang on to power at any cost.

The crackdown has turned once peaceful protests into an armed insurrection and Amnesty acknowledges there have also been abuses attributed to rebel fighters.

The report is released on the eve of the anniversary of the uprisings.

That great cry for freedom has long been drowned out by the sound of bullets and shells.

In the regime's detention centres, it has become an agonised scream.