The horror of Saydnaya jail, symbol of Assad excesses

The horror of Saydnaya jail, symbol of Assad excesses
People keep warm around a fire outside the Saydnaya prison in Damascus on Dec. 11, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 13 December 2024
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The horror of Saydnaya jail, symbol of Assad excesses

The horror of Saydnaya jail, symbol of Assad excesses
  • The prison complex was the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances
  • When Syrian militants entered Damascus on Sunday after their lightning advance that toppled the Assad government, they announced they had seized Saydnaya and freed its inmates

BEIRUT: Saydnaya prison north of the Syrian capital Damascus has become a notorious symbol of the inhumane abuses of the Assad clan, especially since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011.

The prison complex was the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomising the atrocities committed against his opponents by ousted president Bashar Assad.

When Syrian militants entered Damascus on Sunday after their lightning advance that toppled the Assad government, they announced they had seized Saydnaya and freed its inmates.

Some had been incarcerated there since the 19080s.

According to the Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP), the militants liberated more than 4,000 people.

Photographs of haggard and emaciated inmates, some helped by colleagues because they were too weak to leave their cells, were circulated worldwide.

Suddenly the workings of this infamous jail that rights group Amnesty International had dubbed a “human abattoir” were revealed for all to see.

The prison was built in the 1980s during the rule of Hafez Assad, father of the deposed president, and was initially meant for political prisoners including members of Islamist groups and Kurdish militants.

But down the years, Saydnaya became a symbol of pitiless state control over the Syrian people.

In 2016, a United Nations commission found that “the Syrian Government has also committed the crimes against humanity of murder, rape or other forms of sexual violence, torture, imprisonment, enforced disappearance and other inhuman acts,” notably at Saydnaya.

The following year, Amnesty International in a report entitled “Human Slaughterhouse” documented thousands of executions there, calling it a policy of extermination.

Shortly afterwards, the United States revealed the existence inside Saydnaya of a crematorium in which the remains of thousands of murdered prisoners were burnt.

War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in 2022 reported that around 30,000 people had been imprisoned in Saydnaya where many were tortured, and that just 6,000 were released.

The ADMSP believes that more than 30,000 prisoners were executed or died under torture, or from the lack of medical care or food between 2011 and 2018.

The group says the former authorities in Syria had set up salt chambers — rooms lined with salt for use as makeshift morgues to make up for the lack of cold storage.

In 2022, the ADMSP published a report describing for the first time these makeshift morgues of salt.

It said the first such chamber dated back to 2013, one of the bloodiest years in the Syrian civil conflict.

Many inmates are officially considered to be missing, with their families never receiving death certificates unless they handed over exorbitant bribes.

After the fall of Damascus last week, thousands of relatives of the missing rushed to Saydnaya hoping they might find loved ones hidden away in underground cells.

Saydnaya is now empty, and Syria’s White Helmets emergency workers group announced the end of search operations there on Tuesday, with no more prisoners found.

Several foreigners also ended up in Syrian jails, including Jordanian Osama Bashir Hassan Al-Bataynah, who spent 38 years behind bars and was found “unconscious and suffering from memory loss,” the foreign ministry in Amman said on Tuesday.

According to the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Jordan, 236 Jordanian citizens were held in Syrian prisons, most of them in Saydnaya.

Other freed foreigners included Suheil Hamawi from Lebanon who returned home on Monday after being locked up in Syria for 33 years, and also spent time inside Saydnaya.


Israel military says approved plan for new Gaza offensive

Israel military says approved plan for new Gaza offensive
Updated 3 sec ago
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Israel military says approved plan for new Gaza offensive

Israel military says approved plan for new Gaza offensive
  • Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has not provided a precise timetable for when Israeli troops will enter the territory’s largest city
  • The Netanyahu government’s plans to expand the Gaza war after more than 22 months of fighting have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Wednesday it had approved the “framework” for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, days after the security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza City.
Armed forces chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir “approved the main framework for the IDF’s operational plan in the Gaza Strip,” a statement released by the army said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has not provided a precise timetable for when Israeli troops will enter the territory’s largest city, where thousands have taken refuge after fleeing previous offensives.
Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, with the residential neighborhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra hit “with very heavy air strikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings.”
News of the military’s approval of the plan comes hours after Hamas said a senior delegation had arrived in Cairo for “preliminary talks” with Egyptian officials on a temporary truce.
The Netanyahu government’s plans to expand the Gaza war after more than 22 months of fighting have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition.
UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack which triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s offensive has killed at least 61,599 Palestinians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.

Iran security chief vows continued ‘support’ for Lebanon

Iran security chief vows continued ‘support’ for Lebanon
Updated 22 min 40 sec ago
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Iran security chief vows continued ‘support’ for Lebanon

Iran security chief vows continued ‘support’ for Lebanon
  • Ali Larijani’s trip to Lebanon comes after Iran expressed opposition to a government plan to disarm Hezbollah
  • In Lebanon, Larijani is scheduled to meet President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, as well as parliament speaker Nabih Berri

BEIRUT: Iran’s top security chief vowed in Lebanon on Wednesday that his government would continue to provide support, after the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise a plan to disarm Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Ali Larijani’s trip to Lebanon comes after Iran expressed opposition to a government plan to disarm Hezbollah, which before a war with Israel last year was believed to be better armed than the Lebanese military.

“If... the Lebanese people are suffering, we in Iran will also feel this pain and we will stand by the dear people of Lebanon in all circumstances,” Larijani, the head of the National Security Council, told reporters after landing in Beirut.

Dozens of Hezbollah supporters gathered along the airport road to welcome Larijani. He briefly stepped out of his car to greet them as they chanted slogans of support.

In Lebanon, Larijani is scheduled to meet President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, as well as parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is close to Hezbollah.

Iran has suffered a series of blows in its long-running rivalry with Israel, including during 12 days of open war between the two countries in June.

Hezbollah’s grip on power has slipped since a war with Israel ended in a November 2024 ceasefire and the new Lebanese government, backed by the United States, has moved to further restrain it.

Hezbollah is part of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance” — a network of armed groups in the region, including Hamas in Gaza and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, united in their opposition to Israel.

The ouster in December of Bashar Assad in Syria, which long served as a conduit for weapons deliveries between Iran and Hezbollah, cut off the supply route to Lebanon.


Turkish Foreign Minister: Israel is working to stir chaos in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister: Israel is working to stir chaos in Syria
Updated 46 min 15 sec ago
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Turkish Foreign Minister: Israel is working to stir chaos in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister: Israel is working to stir chaos in Syria

DUBAI: Turkish Foreign Minister said Syria is heading toward stability and developing constructive international relations on Wednesday. 

"Israel is working to stir chaos in Syria," he added.


Jordan authorities seize half a million Captagon pills in smuggling attempt 

Jordan authorities seize half a million Captagon pills in smuggling attempt 
Updated 51 min 57 sec ago
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Jordan authorities seize half a million Captagon pills in smuggling attempt 

Jordan authorities seize half a million Captagon pills in smuggling attempt 

CAIRO: Jordanian Customs and the anti-narcotics department foiled an attempt to smuggle a total of 517,000 Captagon pills into the country, according to Petra News Agency. 

The Karameh Customs Center said Wednesday the seized drugs were professionally hidden inside metal trays that seemed to be designed specifically for the purpose of smuggling. 

The drugs were carried inside a truck arriving from a neighboring country, it added.     

At dawn, the Jordanian military also thwarted another drug smuggling attempt in which smugglers loaded balloons with drugs and controlled them using primitive devices. The seized items were transferred to the competent authorities.


Iraq defends border security pact with Iran despite US opposition 

Iraq defends border security pact with Iran despite US opposition 
Updated 34 min 43 sec ago
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Iraq defends border security pact with Iran despite US opposition 

Iraq defends border security pact with Iran despite US opposition 
  • The remarks come in the wake of a new security pact signed between Iraq and Iran in Baghdad
  • While deepening ties with Tehran, the Iraqi government is also under intensifying US pressure

WASHINGTON: The Iraqi Embassy in Washington reiterated on Wednesday Baghdad’s right to independently conclude agreements with any party asserting the country’s full sovereignty despite US criticism. 

The embassy said Iraq “has the right to enter into agreements in accordance with its constitution and national laws, in a manner consistent with its supreme interests,”according to Iraqi News Agency (INA).  

It emphasized that Iraq’s decisions are rooted in its “independent national will” and that the country “is not subordinate to the policies of any other state.”

The remarks come in the wake of a new security pact signed between Iraq and Iran in Baghdad earlier this week, aimed at tightening coordination along their shared border.

However, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce commented on the memorandum, saying: “We support genuine Iraqi sovereignty, not legislation that would turn Iraq into a client state of Iran.”

The agreement, reached during the visit of Iranian top security official Ali Larijani, builds on a March 2023 deal to enhance security in Iraq’s Kurdish region, which Tehran accuses of harboring armed opposition groups.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who oversaw the signing, framed the pact as part of broader cooperation to secure both countries’ frontiers and promote regional stability. 

Iraqi officials say the measures are intended to curb cross-border infiltration by Iranian Kurdish groups accused by Tehran of fomenting unrest.

The timing of the agreement underscores the complex balancing act facing Baghdad. While deepening ties with Tehran, the Iraqi government is also under intensifying US pressure to rein in pro-Iran militias.