Survivor and family members of Bashar al-Assad are beginning to speak out about the pervasive abuse and torture that characterized his program in the wake of his demise.
For over a century, Assad’s security equipment operated an broad network of detention facilities where rape, sexual assault, and mass killings were program. These gruesome accounts have been documented by The Associated Press in a statement.
Abdullah Zahra, a former inmate, recalls being tortured in one of these features in 2012. While his parents was forced to watch, he was electrocuted and beaten for days. ” Death was the least negative thing”, he stated, revisiting the detention center where he was once imprisoned. He continued,” We reached a place where death was simpler than staying around for a minute.”
Zahra described the conditions of the underground prison, where he was confined in a windowless 4-by-4-meter (yard ) cell with 100 other residents. He added that each slave was given a unique surface stone to rest upon. During times when ventilation systems were non-operational—whether consciously or due to energy interruptions—some captives lost their lives from lack of oxygen.
Rape wounds were left to rot, and gentlemen descended into madness. When a flatmate died, Zahra said, the body was placed near the body’s bathroom until kidnappers arrived to replace the dead. As the legal issue grew, the tyrannical regime grew. Zahra’s imprisonment occurred alongside his family’s after security forces killed his brother, who was known for creating anti-Assad road art.
Following their discharge, Zahra sought refuge in places controlled by the opposition. Security personnel quickly called in and detained 13 male family members, including his parents and younger brother, once more.
The abuse practices of the Assad regime were well known and even had brands. The “magic carpet” technique involved tying a defendant to a based wooden plank that pressed against their head and forced them to face their feet, which were then brutally beaten.
Mahmoud Abdulbaki, a 37-year-old non-commissioned heat army commander who defected, endured another terrible approach called” the tire” during his confinement at a military police service. As his prisoners brutally beat his back and legs, his feet were tucked inside a vehicle tire. They demanded that he count every lash, up to 200, and restarted the sentence whenever he erred. ” Women’s hearts stopped following a beating”, he recounted bitterly.
Saleh Turki Yahia, another victim, endured energy surprises, was hung by his ankles, and brutally beaten on his feet. He scabbed his skin fresh, losing half of his body weight.
He described how a fellow prisoner spent time shivering after returning from an officer forced a pipe into his brain. ” All of his liquid poured out from his side,” he said when other detainees attempted to move him. The scar opened from the rear, and he died”, he recounted.
Reflecting on his anguish, Yahia broke down in tears stating:” They broke us. Glance at Syria, it is all old people… A whole generation is destroyed”.
At least 150, 000 Syria have reportedly disappeared into this prison program since protests started in 2011, according to rights groups. Some were killed under brutal conditions, their body left in large graves. People generally remained silent, fearing retribution, but now they are seeking solutions.
The insurgents who pushed Assad out of energy opened confinement facilities, allowing the public to observe and see the execution of prisoners. Rasha Barakat, who was subject to stabbings and threats against her kids while she was imprisoned, was one of the prisoners who were released after criticism makes overran confinement facilities. Though reunited with her family, she says,” I am destroyed psychologically … It’s hard to move on”.
The size of the horrors has begun to be revealed thanks to the discovery of large coffins and hundreds of thousands of classified documents. Previous detainees and legal defense officers are identifying victims and gathering facts.
International companies, including a UN analytical system, are assisting Syria’s time management in documenting these offences. Although the legal process is lengthy, individuals like Zahra and Barakat hope that holding those responsible will aid in the nation’s recovery.
” This is not just about punishment”, said Zahra. It’s about providing comments and making sure this always occurs again,” he said.
