A Historic Day
On December 8, 2024, Syria witnessed a historic day with the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime and the opposition factions taking control of vast areas of the country. This led to the liberation of thousands of detainees. With this event, horrifying truths about the brutal crimes committed by the regime against the Syrian people throughout its rule were revealed. The testimonies of survivors exposed unprecedented brutality, narrating dark chapters of torture and mass executions that affected hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
Survivors' Testimonies
Among the painful scenes, a comment from a survivor of the infamous "Saydnaya" prison stood out. He said, "Now we are in the center of Damascus. I swear by God, our execution along with 54 others was scheduled for today, half an hour ago... Thank God." This statement came after the fall of Assad's regime at the hands of the opposition and the release of detainees.
A Child's Horror
What truly captured attention was the sight of a small child, no more than 3 years old, emerging from one of the cells in shock. An opposition member, equally shocked, asked, "Who is this child? There is no power nor strength except with God." Soon, a woman, presumably his mother, appeared and held his hands in a scene beyond description.
Horrors of Enforced Disappearance
Shocking Report
A Syrian human rights report in August 2024 revealed shocking facts about the file of forcibly disappeared persons in Syria during Bashar al-Assad's rule. The report showed that the number of registered disappeared persons reached 96,321, including 2,329 children and 5,742 women, who were forcibly disappeared by regime forces. The report indicated that at least 85% of these disappeared persons were killed under torture, reflecting the extent of the violations committed.
Documented Deaths
The network documented the deaths of 1,634 forcibly disappeared persons, including 24 children, 21 women, and 16 medical staff, registered as deceased in civil registry offices from 2018 to August 2024. The report confirmed that the phenomenon of enforced disappearance worsened since the outbreak of the popular movement in March 2011, becoming a strategic tool for the Syrian regime to strengthen its control and eliminate its opponents.
Secret Prisons
Fadel Abdul Ghani, director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, confirmed the existence of at least two unknown secret prisons in Syria. He noted that the number of detainees in "Saydnaya" prison alone is estimated at about 11,000, with only about 2,000 having been released. Abdul Ghani differentiated between forcibly disappeared persons and detainees, explaining that the number of detainees in Syrian prisons is about 140,000, separate from the forcibly disappeared, estimated at no less than 100,000.
Torture and Execution
Systematic Torture
From "Saydnaya" to "Tadmor," from "Mezzeh" to "Aleppo," Syrian prisons were centers of merciless repression. After the Syrian revolution, hundreds of thousands of cases of arbitrary detention and systematic torture were documented, along with dozens of secret prisons used by the regime for secret detention and extrajudicial executions.
Human Rights Watch Report
In 2012, Human Rights Watch documented more than 20 different methods of torture used in Syrian torture chambers, including severe beatings, prolonged punching and kicking, beating with wires, whips, sticks, and pipes, fixing detainees in painful or exhausting positions for long periods, often using special tools, sexual assault and humiliation, nail extraction, mock executions, electric shocks, hanging with the head down, beard plucking, using acids to burn the skin, and other systematic methods.
Saydnaya: The Human Slaughterhouse
Infamous Prison
Saydnaya prison is one of the most secretive places in Syria, instilling fear in Syrians. Established in the 1980s, Amnesty International described it as a "human slaughterhouse," where the Syrian state quietly slaughters its people. Located on a small hill near the mountainous town of Saydnaya, north of Damascus, it consists of two main buildings: the old (red building) and the new (white building), covering an area of 1.4 square kilometers.
Detailed Report
In October 2022, the "Association of Saydnaya Detainees and Missing Persons" released a report detailing the prison, based on testimonies from defected employees and former detainees. The report explained how systematic torture and killings were carried out in the prison, amounting to crimes against humanity, with at least 30,000 detainees dying between 2011 and 2018.
Salt Rooms
The report highlighted the creation of "salt rooms," designated to preserve the bodies of detainees who died from torture or starvation until they were transferred to Tishreen Military Hospital. It is believed that between 2018 and 2021, the Syrian regime executed at least 500 additional detainees, according to survivor testimonies documented by the association.
Security Measures
Strict Security
The report also revealed the strict security measures in Saydnaya prison, secured by three levels of security, including hundreds of guards stationed at various locations inside the prison. The prison's outer walls are guarded by military police prison staff (known as the external company) and the Syrian army's third division, forming the first line of defense against any external threats or escape attempts.
Minefields
According to the report, about 40-50 members of the "21st Brigade" of the third division secure the prison's perimeter between the inner and outer walls, while separate units are responsible for securing the prison's interior, monitoring detainees, and ensuring their discipline. The prison is surrounded by two minefields: an internal one with anti-personnel mines and an external one with anti-tank mines.
Communication Monitoring
The report adds that a special unit monitors all landline and wireless communications to and from the prison and its surrounding area, as well as all nearby wireless communications. As for the bodies of executed detainees, the report indicates that they are transported in refrigerated trucks designed for meat preservation, buried in mass graves after being examined at Tishreen Military Hospital and issued death certificates.
Tadmor: A Bloody History
Infamous Prison
Tadmor prison, located near the desert city of Palmyra, was built by the French. Throughout the rule of the late President Hafez al-Assad and later his son Bashar, the prison became notorious for committing brutal massacres and severe torture against detainees. According to a Human Rights Watch report, about 2,500 people were detained in the prison in December 2011. It also witnessed one of the most horrific massacres in Syrian regime history on June 27, 1980, claiming the lives of hundreds of prisoners, most of whom were from the opposition Muslim Brotherhood.
Amnesty International Report
In 2001, Amnesty International published a report describing the prison as "designed to inflict the maximum amount of suffering, humiliation, and fear on inmates."
Mezzeh: A Fortress of Political Repression
Infamous Prison
Mezzeh prison, located on a high plateau near the mountain where the People's Palace in Damascus is built, was established in 1923 by the French on the ruins of an Ottoman fortress. It is one of the most dangerous Syrian prisons, housing most of the opposition, including politicians, military personnel, activists, and intellectuals. Many leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood entered it. On September 13, 2000, the Syrian authorities announced the closure of the prison and the transfer of its inmates to other locations, claiming it would be converted into a history institute or museum.
Adra: Women's Suffering
Infamous Prison
Adra prison, located in the city of Adra in the Damascus countryside, witnessed many strikes protesting poor detention conditions. Female political detainees there suffer harsh conditions similar to those experienced by men, including humiliation, beatings, torture, and even rape.
Air Force Intelligence Branch Prison
Infamous Prison
The Air Force Intelligence Branch prison is one of the most feared sites in Damascus, located at Mezzeh Military Airport, housing at least three detention centers. Former detainees describe one of these centers, believed to be an interrogation building, as a large, flat, single-story white building surrounded by barbed wire. It consists of two underground floors with low ceilings, the first containing communal cells and the second housing at least 12 solitary cells and a large room used for torture.
Torture Yard
According to testimonies from former detainees and defectors, detainees are usually gathered in the prison yard before being transferred to cells. This yard is also used for torture.
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Reports and References
- Syrian Network for Human Rights.
- Interview with Al-Araby TV.
- Torture Chambers: Arbitrary Detention, Torture, and Enforced Disappearances in Syrian Detention Centers Since March 2011, Human Rights Watch.
- Administrative Structure of Saydnaya Prison and Its Organizational Relations, Association of Saydnaya Detainees and Missing Persons (ADMSP).
- Assad's Prisons: A Hell Where Tortured Wish for Death, Al Jazeera.
- Syria: Torture, Despair, and Dehumanization in Tadmur Military Prison, Amnesty International.
- 'Human Slaughterhouses' in Syria: Assad’s Official Prisons, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
- Torture Chambers: Arbitrary Detention, Torture, and Enforced Disappearances in Syrian Detention Centers Since March 2011, Human Rights Watch.
