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Saydnaya Prison, located just north of the Syrian capital, is one of the most infamous prisons in the country. Dubbed “the slaughterhouse," over 13,000 people were killed in the prison since the start of the revolution in 2011. On December 8, following the fall of the al-Assad regime, thousands of political prisoners were liberated by opposition forces, recounting tales of torture and fear. In the days following the momentous occasion, families of missing loved ones rushed to the prison to check on the fate of their family members.
Curious to learn more about Saydanya? Then click on.
More than 13 years following the start of the Syrian revolution, Bashar al-Assad fled Damascus to Russia after opposition forces successfully deposed the ruler.
One of the first sites rebel groups rushed to was Saydnaya, one of Syria’s most notorious prisons. Dubbed “the slaughterhouse,” it is estimated that a minimum of 30,000 people have been killed there since the start of the revolution, although the number is likely much higher, with many more imprisoned and tortured.
Footage was released of a woman detainee, grasping at her small child imprisoned with her, trembling with fear as a rebel fighter reassured her: "Assad has fallen. Don't be scared." She is one of many thousands.
Many of Saydnaya’s newly liberated detainees had already spent months or years in prisons elsewhere before being transferred to “the slaughterhouse.”
Pictured is of released prisoner, Moaz Merheb, who spent 18 years imprisoned in Saydnaya.For decades, political prisoners have been subjected to unfair trials in secret military courts, many unaware of the charges brought against them or the period of time for which they would be detained.
Prisoners never saw a lawyer, and most had never encountered a judge. False confessions were extracted under extreme violence. Prisoners were often held in tiny cells with no sunlight.
Upon arrival, many prisoners were subjected to extreme torture, including sexual violence, electric shocks, and barbarous beatings. Many prisoners perished due to the violence they experienced. Mass executions were common.
Reports also show that prisoners were subjected to starvation and developed acute mental health conditions, with guards brutally enforcing a rule of “absolute silence,” according to Amnesty International.
Many relatives of prisoners were told that their imprisoned family member had died, while they were actually being tortured and held in Saydnaya.
The release of thousands of prisoners was a joyful moment after over a decade of extreme violence, but not everyone in Saydnaya has been liberated.
Thousands of people visited the prison immediately following the opposition groups' takeover of Damascus in an attempt to find any information relevant to their loved ones’ detention.
Images have circulated of anxious relatives desperately sifting through prison documents to try to put together pieces of a puzzle to discover the fate of their loved ones who have not yet come home.
Authorities estimate that over 100,000 detainees are being held in underground bunkers, referred to as the “red section.” No one knows where these underground cells are located.
Civil society groups, such as Nobel Prize nominees the White Helmets, have been deployed to the area to try to find where underground cells are located and to rescue detainees.
Underground doors are locked with a series of electronic codes, making the challenge for rescuers complex and challenging. CCTV monitors show desperate prisoners suffering from a lack of ventilation, as oxygen to the “red area” was cut off.
The Damascus Governorate has called on former soldiers and guards to provide electronic codes to open the underground doors, while civil society groups attempt to dig their way from the top. Rewards of US$3,000 are being offered to anyone who comes forward with information.
In addition to the underground bunkers, the “death camp” also has other infrastructure used to facilitate its torture and killing in secret, including salt chambers used to store dead bodies.
A report by the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP), which is comprised on the basis of testimonies from the prison’s few survivors and defected guards, highlights how “meat trucks” were used to transport bodies into mass graves.
There are at least 66 documented mass graves on military land in the country. The bodies of tens of thousands of prisoners have been secretly buried in those sites over several decades.
Following a tip from a former prison staff member, rebels rushed to a nearby military hospital, Harasta hospital, where over 40 mutilated bodies of prisoners were found—all bearing signs of torture.
There are over 100 official detention facilities in Syria. There are likely thousands of secret ones. The efforts to find secret facilities will likely take years.
In 2014, a defector fled Syria with 53,276 images documenting mass torture and executions, which he submitted to international rights groups.
In addition to mass hangings and death by torture, many prisoners also died due to medical neglect, including from simple infections, and starvation.
The barbarity of the Bashar al-Assad regime was inherited from his father, former leader Hafez al-Assad, who created the political and physical infrastructure to allow the latest regime to execute such cruelty.
Before the revolution, Syrians used a common saying to express mass fear and intimidation due to vast networks of community surveillance: “the walls have ears.” Pictured: a former prisoner draws a sketch of the prison's plan.
Arrest, detention, torture, disappearance, and death have long been qualities that describe the risks that Syrians have continuously faced at the hands of the al-Assad family.
Saydnaya is merely one of many institutions that reflects the ideology of the last half century under al-Assad family rule, where any ting of opposition was met by extreme violence.
The liberation of prisoners is largely bittersweet, as many thousands remain unaccounted for. The desperation of families to know where their loved ones are, if they are dead or alive, and what fate they suffered, remain painful remnants of the recently fallen regime.
According to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), there are at least 150,000 people who were forcibly disappeared in Syria.
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the leader of the primary opposition group, has stated that senior officials who oversaw the torture and killing of political prisoners will face accountability. Rewards are being offered to locate these officials.
Sources: (CNN) (Amnesty International) (BBC) (Association of Detainees and the Missing in Saydnaya Prison)
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Unveiling the horrors of Saydnaya Prison
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LIFESTYLE Syria
Saydnaya Prison, located just north of the Syrian capital, is one of the most infamous prisons in the country. Dubbed “the slaughterhouse," over 13,000 people were killed in the prison since the start of the revolution in 2011. On December 8, following the fall of the al-Assad regime, thousands of political prisoners were liberated by opposition forces, recounting tales of torture and fear. In the days following the momentous occasion, families of missing loved ones rushed to the prison to check on the fate of their family members.
Curious to learn more about Saydanya? Then click on.