About 100,000 detainees, including political prisoners, are still unaccounted for
DAMASCUS — Thousands of Syrians have rushed to Sednaya prison hours after rebels captured the military detention centre, run by the Assad regime, in a desperate bid to find their missing loved ones.
Amid celebratory gunfire and screams, rumours spread that many detainees were being held in underground cells. A crowd forced open a door, hoping to free those held inside. But no one was found, reported The National and Reuters.
On Monday, Syria’s civil defence group, the White Helmets, said they were investigating claims that hidden underground cells could hold more detainees, sending five emergency teams. So far, they have been unable to find anyone.
Many Syrians remain undeterred. The rebels’ swift advance, which ended over five decades of the Assad regime’s family rule sparked hope among families of those who disappeared.
Some of those who visited the prison said they could still hear the voices of their loved ones and hoped to find them. About 100,000 detainees are still unaccounted for since the conflict began back in 2011, including many political prisoners. In Sednaya, people combed through corridors and squalid cells in a bid to find those being held.
Behind the rusted bars lay dirty blankets, scattered official prison papers and personal belongings left behind. Drops of dried blood stained the stairs, with a stretcher and a prosthetic leg abandoned on the floor.
In Sednaya, like other Assad regime prisons, human rights groups have documented systematic torture, sexual violence and mass executions. It stands as a symbol of the regime’s breaches of human rights under former president Bashar Al Assad’s rule.
Many are searching for people who have been missing for over a decade. Yaman El Ali said his uncle, Ahmad, had been missing since 2016. He said that he arrived in the morning but found no trace of him but that they would keep searching.
Like thousands of others, Yaman walked several kilometres to reach the prison. The line of cars blocking the road to the entrance prompted many to abandon their vehicles and continue the journey to the prison on foot. Many walked in the darkness, guided only by their phone torch and starlight as planes, probably Israeli, flew overhead. An empty Syrian army tank was also abandoned on the side of the road.
Some families lit fires along the road, remaining close to the prison in the hope of positive news about their loved ones.
A group of people gathered around a car with a notebook containing the names of detainees held from 2013. Many were trying to find their loved ones on the list.
“I heard someone was found alive. Is that true?” a man asked. Another person asked if anyone in the crowd had information about their missing uncle.
Mohamed Al Zein, a commander of the rebel group the Southern Front for the Liberation of Damascus, said he remains hopeful about finding his brother, who has been missing for more than a decade. This is the first time he has visited Sednaya. His mother had previously visited in vain, however rumours of hidden cells have reignited hopes.
“Inshallah, we find him. We also have many other friends who are missing,” he said.
Another fighter, Moussa, said that many people released from the prisons of the Assad regime had lost their memory. Mr Al Zein claimed his brother was detained on a false report. “Since then, we haven’t heard anything,” he said. “It was always like that – arbitrary detentions. Everyone was afraid; we couldn’t do anything.” But now, he said, “everything is allowed”.
