They call it "the Slaughterhouse": in the eerie prison Sitting outside Damascus, the Assad regime has executed and tortured tens of thousands of Syrians. Most have already been released, but it is assumed that there are still people in cells underground.
Photos show dozens of men emerging from a cramped cell at the Sednaya military prison. Their faces are drunken and pale, some have strength only to crawl. They cannot believe their luck that they are leaving this terrible place, writes the German public media ARD.
Torture and executions
Sednaya has a terrible reputation. Syrians call this prison "the slaughterhouse". According to “Amnesty International” tens of thousands of political prisoners were executed there - without trial and sentence. Torture was a daily occurrence.
Ahmed Mazhar Saado was also in this prison and now lives in exile in Turkey. He describes himself as an oppositionist of the Syrian regime. He tells an Arab television what he saw in Sednaya. "A merchant from Damascus was in prison with me. They humiliated him, tortured him endlessly until he lost his mind and went mad. They threw him on the floor and left him there until he died," he said, quoted by ARD.
Thousands have been released from prisons
Over the past few days, the rebels have freed thousands of prisoners from prisons. It is possible that there are criminals among them. But also political prisoners who were held there without their relatives knowing about it. And these people are by no means few
Ahmed Rahal was part of the Assad regime. He now lives in Istanbul and appears on television as a military expert: “Syria is said to have more prisons and internment camps than schools and hospitals. That's why the people there live in fear and panic," ARD quoted him as saying.
One day after the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian “White Helmets“ announced that they would now search for underground prisons that some of the released prisoners had told about. The private humanitarian organization became famous for caring for people in opposition areas during the Syrian civil war.
The head of the “White Helmets“ Raed al-Saleh says: “We are still looking for prisoners. But I think that in Sednaya there are no more detainees left. However, we are working with all our might and we do not lose hope that we will help more people.
"Assad must be held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity"
Syria's long-time dictator has been ousted and fled the country, but it is not yet clear what Syria will look like in the future. The ex-prisoners, many of whom are probably innocent, will have to overcome their psychological traumas, as will their families. They will all want justice.
For ex-prisoner Ahmed Mazhar Saado, one thing is clear: Bashar Assad, who was granted asylum in Russia along with his family, must be tried. “The Syrian people will not be silent and will not rest until this criminal is brought before the International Criminal Court to answer for war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he told ARD.