Camping in Syria’s notorious “killing” prison complex north of Damascus and scouring flooded hospital rooms and chapels, desperate relatives search for missing Syrians.
Grabbing photos, identification cards, and displays of old photos, families of those swallowed up in the state’s notorious prisons and justice system flock to anyone they think can shed light on their loved ones.
More than half a century of brutal Assad regime, culminating in 13 years of civil war, has been marked by mass arrests, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and executions that have left tens of thousands missing.
Many ended up in Syria’s brutal and solitary prisons, like Saydnaya, the so-called “death camp”. Located 30 kilometers north of the capital, Damascus, Amnesty International described it as a last resort for peaceful protesters and those who left the army.
After images circulated around the country showing rebels massacring prisoners on Sunday, families from across Syria used their last fuel to drive to the infamous prison in search of their loved ones.
With no place to go, many are sleeping on mattresses outside the horrible place, which is full of dirt and little belongings of the prisoners. Others are digging with their hands or trying to punch through walls, chasing rumors of underground prisons and secret cells.
Holding photos and ID cards, the families of those who have been swallowed up in notorious state prisons and the justice system look for their loved ones (AP)
“Please, I’m trying to find my son Enad, who disappeared 12 years ago,” a woman cries, holding my hand. Another man, Zakaria, a former prisoner, shouts: “Some of my family are missing. Their pictures are in the records here at the prison. They should be here.”
A man standing in the back, holding a bunch of prison papers with names written on them, says he can’t find his brother-in-law, who disappeared after participating in a protest in the north of Daraa in 2011. Get an idea of what looks like a map of the prison area, he says he lost his brother in Daraa three years later; he had gone to buy a can of petrol and did not return.
The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has said that up to 150,000 people are believed to be missing as a result of the conflict in Syria, and that families have been reunited after the dramatic overthrow of Bashar al-Assad at the weekend.
The international government organization has already collected data from more than 72,000 relatives of missing persons, who reported 28,200 cases and received reports of 66 grave sites.
Now is the time, the group says, for the world to develop genetic and database technology to find Syria that does not exist.
“For justice to prevail in Syria, measures must be taken now—among the current events—to preserve the evidence,” he added, calling for the criminalization of killing sites and other human rights violations. “They must be sealed and, over time, investigated to preserve the truth and bring those responsible for the crime.”
The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) said around 150,000 people are believed to be missing due to the conflict in Syria (AP)
Unfortunately, that was not the case in Saydnaya, where angry and grieving families stood surrounded by broken CCTV cameras, monitor screens, and shredded computer frames and hard drives.
“They took 40 operational screens and security drives just to cover Bashar al-Assad and his criminals,” says Wali Subhi Nassar from Aleppo, crying tears of frustration.
“About a month ago, a soldier told me that my brother was in Saydnaya. Now, that soldier is gone, and he doesn’t want to see him at all.
“We will continue to pursue these criminals until the end. I didn’t hate them and never carried a weapon in my life, but now I will hunt them down,” says a man trying to comfort him.
Families who have given up on prison fill nearby hospitals like Al-Mouwasat to get information about their missing relatives. Hearing reports of severely tortured prisoners who have forgotten their names and lost their minds, they run between the rooms of the wounded, begging nurses and doctors for news of any of those released from prison. They stream out of a room on the fourth floor, where two men are being treated for gunshot and torture wounds after being released from prisons in Homs and Damascus—only to find that they have been claimed by their families.
Alaa, a mother of six, is one of the lucky few: she brings up her husband, Muhammed, 38, one of the two men recently released from Saydnaya on Sunday who lies unconscious next to her.
In Saydnaya, angry and distraught families stood surrounded by broken CCTV cameras as Assad’s officers hit everything as they fled (AP)
The family once fled to Lebanon but returned to Syria in 2014 because they had no money, food or school for their children. Her husband was then drafted into Al-Assad’s army but he tried to leave several times. Eight months ago, he was transferred to Saydnaya.
There, Alaa says, he was severely tortured and later shot in the shoulder as the government retreated.
“They never let me see my husband. They abused me every time I asked to see him,” she says while crying. “When I heard that he was released, I started crying along with the children. My children were crying and happy that their father had been released.”