Over 5,000 Syrian prisoners freed

Northern Syrian prisoners freed following collapse of Syrian regime now have the chance to tell their stories

Early in November, approximately 5,000 Syrian prisoners were freed from Aleppo Central Prison. The prison is located in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. This occurred after the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime following an attack by rebel forces. As reported by Al Jazeera, the rebel forces were led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Later November; Within two weeks, they had located the Aleppo Central Prison, freeing thousands.  

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, according to BBC is an Islamic political organization involved in the Syrian civil war. They are known has a powerful military force within Syrian and according to United Nations Security Council, they were deemed a Terrorist group in 2021.  

Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani leads Hayat Tahir al-Sham, the group has since become one of the most potent armed opposition forces in Syria. According to Al Jazeera, al-Jolani has changed the trajectory and focus of the group which is part of the reason why they were so successful at freeing thousands of Syrian Prisoners. Al-Julani switched the focus from armed forces and other transnational operations to an Islamic republic in Syria. Distancing it from its earlier ties to al-Qaeda and transnational jihadist goals. 

The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported there were more than 136,614 people incarcerated in the prison, some being imprisoned for more than 33 years. There were three central prisons within Syria. The Sednaya prison is known for its extreme brutality, mass executions and conditions that were described as a “slaughterhouse” by survivors interviewed by Al Jazeera. There was also the Mezzeh prison, which was a key site for interrogations and torture where prisoners were subjected to dehumanizing treatment. The third was the Aleppo Central Prison, which was one of the main sites for imprisonment and was liberated during the HTS led offence. 

 Al Jazeera reported on the prison conditions, highlighting the torture and abuse survivors faced, as told by those who have been freed in interviews with Al Jazeera. One notable survivor is Hala who asked to be called “Hala” as she is still afraid of using her real name.  

“My name was number 1100,” Hala said, explaining how prisoners were seen as numbers. She recalls witnessing the death of a 16-year-old while in prison and was tortured shortly after her arrest. Hala also described escaping the fear and inhuman conditions inside the prison and running outside of the prison, as unbelievable. Saying “We could not believe it was real, and we would see the light.”  

Another survivor that Al Jazeera interviewed was Safi al-Yassin; he had described years of physical and psychological torture, highlighting the extreme brutality in the Saydnaya prison. Yassin witnessed horrific acts, such as an elderly man bleeding to death. He said witnessing those traumatic events left him with lasting scars and the memories of what he saw cannot be erased.  Yassin mentioned witnessing a relative who had suffered amputation and mental breakdowns after enduring prolonged abuse and just as Hala had described how he and the other Syrian prisoners were treated as numbers.  

Celina Shamon, an Iraqi Assyrian, belongs to an Indigenous ethnic group native to Mesopotamia — specifically northwestern Syria, southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq and parts of Iran. “It is something that we never thought would happen… seeing all of the prisoners run out, seeing kids who have never seen the sun point at it because they were born in the prisons, and seeing the women run out after having to endure pain and go through labour in those prisons…my first initial feeling is a blissful shock,” Shamon said. 

Shamon says there are misconceptions of people thinking the prisons were filled with “terrorists” and “killers,” without recognizing how diverse Syria is. “They think it is just another Muslim country, as they think of the entire Middle East,” she said. 

 Shamon says that if the Syrian prisoners who have been freed want to celebrate and be happy about being free, we should be celebrating with them. She also says the only way we will learn about what is happening in Syria and be able to support them is by talking to Syrians and listening to their stories. 

Shamon reflects on how situations in the Middle East, specifically Syria and Palestine, have changed her viewpoint on global conflicts: “Why did it take the beheading, the burning and the partial destruction of these Middle Eastern countries for us to humanize them?”  

This article was originally printed in Volume 24, issue 5 on January 9th, 2025.

You May Also Like

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *