Sednaya, Syria – For many years, Sednaya jail was solely ever talked about in hushed tones in Syria. Torture and demise have been identified to be routine on this place everybody known as the “human slaughterhouse”.
But on the night of December 7, that each one ended when Syrian opposition fighters burst by way of doorways and liberated the prisoners.
In no time, hundreds of Syrians descended on the jail within the mountains north of Damascus, desperately in search of information of the family members they believed had disappeared behind the jail’s partitions.
Standing in entrance of the jail, Jumaa Jubbu, who’s from al-Kafir in Idlib, mentioned: “The liberation [of Syria] is an indescribable pleasure.
“But the enjoyment is incomplete as a result of there are [hundreds of thousands] of lacking detainees, and we haven’t heard any information about them in any respect.”
False hope
Sednaya’s two buildings might have been holding as many as 20,000 prisoners, in keeping with Amnesty International.
Many of the prisoners have been freed every week in the past – on Saturday night and Sunday morning. But by Monday, hundreds of individuals have been nonetheless ready for information.
The scene contained in the jail was chaotic. Rumours have been circulating that there have been hidden underground sections of the jail which they might not entry.
A former prisoner informed Al Jazeera that navy police had informed him there have been three underground flooring with hundreds of individuals held there. This week, folks have been utilizing water conductors within the hopes of discovering gaps within the partitions or flooring.
At one level, a loud bang rang out from a far wall of the jail and shouts unfold by way of the group.
Someone had damaged by way of and there have been hopes they’d discovered an entry to the rumoured cells. People started working in the direction of the sound, shouting “God is the best”.
But, seconds later, the shouts died down and folks turned away – a false hope. There was no entrance.
“We’re ready, hoping that God will information us to search out the underground jail, as a result of many of the prisoners who have been launched earlier than, they are saying the jail has three underground ranges,” Jubbu mentioned. “We solely noticed one ground.”
Jubbu mentioned he was looking for 20 folks from his village, amongst them his cousins. All had been taken within the early years of the battle, between 2011 and 2013 and have been believed to have ended up on the “slaughterhouse”.
But only a few hours later, an announcement was launched by the Association of Detainees and Missing in Sednaya Prison which mentioned the final liberated prisoner had been launched at 11am the day earlier than.
The White Helmets, Syria’s Civil Defence pressure, continued to look however lastly suspended operations on Tuesday after discovering no extra prisoners.
‘The smells are indescribable’
Syrian opposition fighters liberated Aleppo, Hama, and Homs on their method to Damascus. In every metropolis, they opened up the jail doorways and liberated tens of hundreds of individuals.
But extra stay lacking.
On the highway to Sednaya, folks drove so far as they might earlier than the crush of individuals pressured them to park and proceed on foot.
Young and outdated, women and men, some holding youngsters – all climbed up the unpaved incline to the notorious jail.
Under the now-defeated regime, Sednaya was a navy jail the place many have been held on prices of “terrorism” which, in actuality, meant had been arrested for any variety of arbitrary causes.
Many of the folks Al Jazeera spoke to there mentioned their family had completed nothing flawed.
Some weren’t even positive their family members have been right here, they’d come as a result of they’d heard from somebody that their relative “may” be right here. Or they’d checked different prisons and nonetheless hadn’t discovered any hint.
Mohammad al-Bakour, 32, mentioned his brother Abdullah was arrested in 2012 for protesting peacefully in Aleppo. He has not seen him since.
At 2am the earlier morning – across the time al-Assad fled Damascus for Moscow – al-Bakour headed straight from his house city close to Aleppo to Sednaya to seek for his brother.
“His youngsters at the moment are younger adults, they don’t bear in mind him and wouldn’t recognise him,” al-Bakour mentioned.
Inside, he searched the jail for any signal of Abdullah.
“The smells in there are indescribable. The struggling of the prisoners inside is unimaginable,” he mentioned. “Many instances, they wished for demise however couldn’t discover it. Death turned one of many prisoners’ goals.”
Life in limbo
At Sednaya, many prisoners mentioned they’d been tortured and raped. Others have been killed so the world received’t know what occurred to them.
The corpse of distinguished activist Mazen al-Hamada was present in a navy hospital morgue exhibiting indicators of torture.
Another former prisoner, Youssef Abu Wadie, described to Al Jazeera how the guards handled inmates: “They would knock on the door, yell, ‘Quiet, you canine!’ and wouldn’t allow us to converse. The meals was scarce. They would take us exterior, beat us, break us.
“Sometimes two folks would maintain us down and beat us. They would drag us round and take away our drugs.”
Many inmates informed Amnesty International in 2016 that they weren’t allowed any contact with the surface world or to ship something to members of the family.
In many circumstances, households of prisoners have been informed incorrectly {that a} prisoner had died, in keeping with Amnesty’s report. Most inmates within the report had additionally witnessed no less than one demise throughout their time in Sednaya.
Without any confirmed proof of life or demise for his or her family and associates, many Syrians proceed life in limbo. Almost all of them say that with none official affirmation, they may proceed looking out.
One of these folks is 50-year-old Lamis Salama. She was additionally at Sednaya on Monday searching for information of her son, who had been detained seven years beforehand and would now be 33 years outdated; and of her brother, who was arrested 12 years in the past.
“My emotions are concern, terror. I need to see my son, I need to know if he’s alive or lifeless,” Salama mentioned. “This is a ache in my coronary heart. If he’s lifeless, I might cease wanting and begin making an attempt to simply accept that, but when he’s alive, I’ll maintain looking for him till my final breath, simply to know the place he’s.”
Additional reporting by Justin Salhani
