‘Interrogators burned my flesh with cigarettes’

YALOVA, Turkey

A Syrian teenager jailed by the Bashar al-Assad regime allegedly for his social media posts has haunting memories of the torture and abuse, he was subjected to, in the interrogation centers.

The teenager, who does not want to be identified, goes by the name E.H., was arrested in Aleppo, when he was a high school student. He was charged with managing social media activities, on behalf of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, E.H., 19, recalled the inhumane torture and cruelties, he witnessed during his one and half years of stay at various detention centers in Aleppo and Damascus.

Like many other detainees, E.H. was also beaten brutally, without any explanation. “They pinned me to the ground, took off my clothes and beat me brutally, until I lost my consciousness. They did not ask any question,” he said.

He said the repeated tortures fractured his feet. He was hung upside down and kept in this position for hours. For five months, he was also held in a solitary confinement.

“Interrogators used to put burning cigarettes on my flesh,” E.H. recalled. He was released after his family paid a large amount of money to bail him out. Soon after out from the jail, he took refuge in Turkey three months ago.

Humanitarian crisis in Syria

Syria is locked in a devastating conflict since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected brutality.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to the UN figures. The women and children continue to bear the brunt of the conflict.

According to the International Conscience Movement, an NGO, more than 13,500 women have been jailed, since the Syrian conflict began, while more than 7,000 women remain in detention, where they are subjected to torture, rape and sexual violence.

The movement is an alliance of individuals, rights groups and organizations aiming to secure urgent action for the release of women and children in the prisons of the Syrian regime.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz