(MENAFN- Live Mint) Syria News: As Syrian rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) captured city after city on the road to Damascus, forcing Bashar al-Assad to flee the country, they also opened the doors of the regime's notorious prisons, into which upwards of 100,000 people disappeared during nearly 14 years of civil war.
Verified videos from Damascus showed dozens of women and children being held in cells, the rebels opening the doors and telling them not to be afraid.
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Syria News: Prisoners Freed Make Shocking Revelations
Rebels reportedly liberated detention facilities, releasing Sednaya inmates who were long thought to be lost. Videos from Damascus show women and children being freed from cells, with the rebels reassuring them,“Don't be afraid.”
One of the liberated Sednaya prisoners, a young man, shared his harrowing experience with Al Jazeera, recounting his time in captivity:“I had no name in the prison, just a number. I lost my identity, my name and my character. I was taken by the regime, and my family assumed I was dead.”
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Many prisoners, he revealed, were detained without their families knowing, spending years behind bars in secret.
Another harrowing account comes from a group of men who were rescued on the day they were scheduled for execution.“Now we are standing in the heart of Damascus,” one man declared, standing with three others.“I swear to God Almighty, this man and I were scheduled to be hanged on this day only 30 minutes ago. I swear to God Almighty, 54 men were to be executed today.”
Syria News: The White Helmets' Efforts
The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets , has sent teams to Sednaya prison, one of the most notorious facilities. These teams search for secret chambers and vaults, hoping to uncover more missing detainees.
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The White Helmets' efforts are supported by specialised teams, including rescue and dog units, who are digging through walls and opening iron doors to find those who have been hidden away in the prison's depths.
UN Report: Torture, Abuse, and Systematic Repression in Syrian Prisons
The International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) recently published a report that sheds light on the scale of abuse within Assad's detention system. The report, based on interviews with over 300 former detainees, provides a stark description of the horrors faced by Syrians detained by the regime. Physical and psychological abuse was commonplace, with detainees subjected to beatings, stress positions, sexual violence, and torture. The conditions were appalling, with overcrowding, insufficient food and water, and a complete lack of medical care.
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Many Sednaya Prison detainees also witnessed others being tortured or killed in these brutal facilities. The Syrian government's intelligence agencies-such as the Military Intelligence Department and the Air Force Intelligence Directorate-were central to the repression.
The protests that began in 2011 during the Arab Spring revolution were met with an iron fist. President Bashar al-Assad dismissed the demonstrators as part of an international conspiracy against Syria. He stated that those involved in the protests“contribute to destroying their country” and that there would be“no compromise or middle way.”
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The Syrian regime's response to these peaceful protests was swift and violent. According to the IIIM report, methods of torture included electrocution, sexual violence, burning, and forced stress positions, with detainees often subjected to horrific physical harm.
One particularly brutal method of torture, known as“Flying carpet,” involved beating a Syrina person who was strapped to a wooden board. Other techniques included dragging, drowning, and the removal of nails and teeth.
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Sexual violence was a common weapon used by the Syrian al-Assad regime against both men and women. Former detainees reported genital mutilation, rape, forced nudity, and sexual assaults.“Beating genitalia, burning genitalia, electrocuting genitalia” were just some of the horrors inflicted upon the detainees.
Mental harm included confinement with corpses.
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The Syrian government 's detention system was not only a tool for physical repression but also for maintaining control over the population. Thousands of protesters were arrested during the 2011 uprisings, and many were subjected to extreme abuse and forced disappearances. Leaked documents revealed that the Syrian state security apparatus considered imprisonment and torture essential for crushing dissent.
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