In his shocking report from the border with Syria, Amnesty International Researcher Neil Sammonds reveals the extent of the torture experienced by those arrested in Syria – treatment reaching unprecedented levels of brutality.

In his hospital bed in al-Ramtha, a few kilometres from the border with Dera’a governorate in Syria, Abu Suhaib tells me how two days ago he and most of the men of al-Taibe had fled the town as the Syrian army were closing in.

An eloquent man in his mid-40s, Abu Suhaib said he and a small group were watching the scene unfold when an anti-aircraft missile fired in their direction sent grapefruit-sized shrapnel up through his leg and out his left thigh, taking his left thumb with it.

“My own flesh and blood splashed in my face,” he said.