Syria’s Sednaya Prison exposes Assad regime’s brutality

ANKARA

Images and video footage from Sednaya Prison near Damascus have unveiled the brutal treatment of detainees by the deposed Syrian regime.

A 2017 report by Amnesty International called Sednaya a “slaughterhouse,” documenting abuse against detainees, including rape, torture and executions.

According to data compiled by Anadolu from open sources regarding torture and executions in Sednaya, there are two detention centers within the prison compound: the “White Building" and the "Red Building."

International reports revealed that the Bashar al-Assad regime carried out extrajudicial executions through "mass hangings" at Sednaya, intentionally subjecting detainees to inhumane conditions and systematically depriving them of food, water, and medical care.

Most of the detainees held in the "Red Building" were civilians arrested since 2011 at the onset of the Syrian uprising. Meanwhile, the "White Building" housed officers and soldiers detained for alleged "disloyalty" to the regime.

According to statements from officials and former detainees, the majority of those held in the "Red Building" since 2011 were civilians from all segments of society.

Meat lockers

Former prisoners recounted being transferred to Sednaya from various security branches of the deposed regime in white trucks known as "meat lockers."

They reported enduring severe beatings and torture upon arrival at the prison, a practice referred to by prison authorities as a "welcome party."

According to a report by the London-based Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), the Baath regime employed 72 different methods of torture, including physical, psychological, and sexual violence.

Thousands of people were killed in the "Red Building" through secret executions after being held in inhumane conditions, SNHR said.

Executions were carried out in the "execution chamber" located in the southeastern corner of the White Building, typically in the middle of the night.

Reports indicate that between 2011 and 2015, approximately 50 people were hanged every week, and sometimes every two weeks.

After the executions, the victims' bodies were loaded onto trucks and transported to Tishreen Military Hospital in Damascus for record-keeping.

Their deaths were falsely documented as caused by heart or respiratory conditions, after which the bodies were sent to the Tishreen morgue and subsequently to mass graves.

These mass graves are located on military land near Damascus and in Najha village along the main road between Sweida and Damascus.

Assad fled to Russia after anti-regime groups entered Damascus on Dec. 8 and took control of the capital as regime forces withdrew from public institutions, marking the end of 61 years of the Baath Party's bloody rule and 53 years of Assad family dominance.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala