Children were tortured at Scottish schools, children’s homes and residential units with waterboarding, sleep-deprivation and force-feeding among the practices deployed to torment them, a major study into alleged abuse has claimed.

The report from the National Confidential Forum, set up to acknowledge the experiences of abuse victims, also records physical and sexual abuse, the humiliation of children for bed-wetting, and children having all their hair cut off to suppress their identity.

Dr Rachel Happer, head of the Forum said most of the adults who had come forward to tell of their experiences had never seen their abusers brought to justice due to a culture of silence and intimidation.

“Many of the accounts we have heard have been heart-breaking and akin to extreme treatment that nobody should be on the receiving end of, never mind children and never mind a child who is meant to be cared for and protected,” she said.

“People have used their own words to describe the experiences and some have certainly described what happened to them as torture.”

The oldest experience detailed in the report What We Have Heard So Far took place eight decades ago, and the most recent just five years ago.

While a small number of the 78 people who have so far made disclosures to the Forum had good care experiences, and not all had stories of abuse, the majority - 59 people - described a range of dehumanising and cruel physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

The adults who described their childhood experiences to the forum's expert panel are anonymous, as are the institutions involved. Those who had made allegations as children said they were rarely believed, and more likely to be punished or moved, with the abuser's version of events believed instead.

Harrowing quotes from children who were rehoused to protect them from abuse or neglect describe brutal treatment and intimidation. “She’d fill a bath with cold water and throw you in it, with the towel wrapped around your head, which I think is called water-boarding…and then pour buckets of water over your head,” said one person of a staff member at a residential unit.

Another described the place they were accommodated: “It was a systematic torture chamber…a systematic abuse…a way of life all the time, morning and night.”

Dr Rachel Happer said some of the people who spoke to the forum had never spoken about their experiences, and urged more to come forward.

“For some people, talking to the Forum is the first time they have been heard and sharing their experience broke a long-held silence," she said. "For those people who may still be silent, now is their chance to speak up. We offer a safe and supportive place to be heard.

“Our aim is to record these experiences as part of Scotland’s history, to learn from them and understand the profound and long-term impact of care and to continue making progress to create care environments where vulnerabilities are tackled and children are supported to reach their potential.”

She said that while the forum itself exists only to record and acknowledge the experiences of people who grew up in care, it is working closely with the National Child Abuse Inquiry and is supporting those who wish to take their evidence further to get in touch with the inquiry or with Police Scotland.

Alan Draper, spokesman for In Care Abuse Survivors Scotland, said the details revealed in the report were no surprise, and reflected the experiences of many of the group's members. He said "we are pleased to see this brought to public attention." However he said there was a need to provide financial redress to victims of abuse, especially those in the later stages of life. "This raises questions about how we repair the damage that has been caused to so many people by an uncaring establishment," he added. "One of the ways should certainly be some form of monetary acknowledgement of what they went through."

A spokesman from NSPCC Scotland said: “The accounts of abuse published in this report are extremely shocking and it’s vital that any victims of abuse get justice, no matter how much time has passed since crimes against them were committed. We need to ensure that people who have been abused as children feel confident to come forward, safe in the knowledge that their voices heard and they will receive help and support.”