During a lightning-fast offensive to seize Syria, rebel fighters released thousands of people from the gruesome prison network that had characterized the repressive al-Assad regime they eventually ousted.
Coming from the north, they first captured Aleppo, then Hama, Homs, and Damascus.
Along the way, they destroyed the liberated central prison, reassuring those who stumbled outside, weak and confused, that they were safe.
They said President Bashar al-Assad’s regime was on the verge of collapse or had already collapsed, and showed the world the conditions in which countless people have been detained for years.
Work continues as fighters and aid workers scramble to find stranded prisoners, open secret cells and even locate secret facilities.
Their efforts are bringing a glimmer of hope to countless Syrian families who have had their loved ones “disappeared” in prisons that many describe as dungeons and death camps.
Here’s what you need to know about Syrian prisons under the al-Assad regime.
How many prisons were there in Syria?
According to a UN report, there are more than 100 detention facilities and an unknown number of secret facilities.
Two of the most notorious prisons are Tadmor and Sednaya.
They were located in the desert of the ancient city of Palmyra and on the outskirts of Damascus, respectively.
What were the prison conditions like in Syria?
terrible.
In 2014, a regime defector known as “Caesar” fled Syria with tens of thousands of images of the dismembered bodies of detainees who had been killed or tortured in Syrian prisons. .
He handed over approximately 53,276 files to Syrian and international rights groups and activists.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimated that these photos prove that at least 6,786 people died in government custody.
Amnesty International also called Sadnaya Prison a “slaughterhouse” in 2017 after discovering that thousands of people had been executed there.
They were killed by mass hangings and other forms of torture, including being denied food, water, and medicine.
Syrian authorities would then dump them in mass graves.
Amnesty International said the killing amounted to a crime against humanity.
How many people have languished in prison?
Approximately 157,634 Syrians were arrested from March 2011 to August 2024.
Of these, 5,274 were children and 10,221 were women.
Thousands more were abducted by Syria’s feared security services during the reign of Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez, who seized power in 1971.
After Hafez died in 2000, his son took over the reins of the country.
Are there Syrians still in prison?
Relief groups say there are still countless people trapped in dungeons.
Thousands of detainees remain locked in dungeons as authorities call on former soldiers and prison officials to provide rebels with passwords to unlock underground electronic doors, surveillance camera footage shows It is claimed that the
Syria’s White Helmets is also offering a reward to anyone who provides information that helps uncover secret facilities.
مكافأة مالية لمن يقدم معلومات تساعد في العثور على أماكن السجون ومراكز الاعتقال السرية التي يوجد فيها معتقلون.
يعلن الدفاع المدني السوري (الخوذ البيضاء) عن تخصيص مكافأة مالية بمبلغ 3 آلاف دولار أمريكي Amazing… pic.twitter.com/CIfxxSNisP— الدفاع المدني السوري (@SyriaCivilDefe) December 9, 2024
Translation: Offer financial rewards to people who provide information that helps find the locations of secret prisons and detention centers where detainees are being held. The Syrian Civil Defense Agency (White Helmets) has announced a $3,000 reward for anyone who provides first-hand information leading to the identification of the secret prison in Syria where the detainees are being held.
It is unclear who exactly is still in prison, but the rebels have so far released thousands of women, elderly people and middle-aged men, some of whom have spent most of their lives in prison. There are some people.
The rebels also discovered young children being held by the regime.
How were people tortured?
In an unimaginable way.
The Syrian regime used several techniques to punish its actual and perceived adversaries. They whipped detainees, deprived them of sleep, and electrocuted them.
Women and men were routinely stripped naked, blindfolded, and even raped.
Additionally, three specific torture methods have become notorious in Syria for literally breaking the backs of detainees.
The first, known as the “German Chair,” saw prison officers place detainees into chairs and bend them backwards until their spines broke.
The second was called a “flying carpet,” in which the victim was placed on a folding wooden plank.
The guard then lifted the board on both sides, bringing the victim’s knees and chest closer together, until the position caused extreme back pain.
Finally, prison guards often tied detainees to ladders, pushed the ladders down, and repeatedly watched as victims fell onto their backs.
Why did the regime arrest and torture so many Syrians?
Simply put, to intimidate them into submission.
Before the 2011 Syrian uprising, the country’s people often said that “even the walls have ears”, referring to the regime’s sprawling intelligence surveillance system and network of spies, the deadly Mukhabarat.
Anyone who made critical comments about the regime risked disappearing into the regime’s dungeons.
