Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of some prisoners’ experiences in Assad’s prisons.
In the shadow of Syria’s brutal civil war, one institution stands as a chilling symbol of the regime’s systemic violence: Sednaya Prison. Known as the “factory of death” or the “human slaughterhouse,” Sednaya became a place of unimaginable suffering.
Approximately 100,000 people are reported missing from Asada prison, where people, including thousands of women and children, have been detained, tortured and killed.
“Human rights groups have documented that at least 10 percent of detainees die in these prisons, but some reports suggest the number may be as high as 20 percent,” said Joseph Braude, founder of the Center for Peace Communications . “This number continues to rise as families come forward to reveal the whereabouts of their missing loved ones, many of whom remain unaccounted for.”
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A blood-stained noose is found in a recently liberated prison in Syria. (Reuters)
Sednaya was more than just a prison, it was a tool to suppress any form of resistance or humanity. “The prison is on a hill outside Damascus,” Ahed Al Hendi, a former political prisoner and Syria analyst, told Fox News Digital. “We see it when we go to nearby tourist areas, but even if you just drive by, you don’t dare talk about it. If you say, ‘Sednaya,’ you’ll end up there.”
Arhendi continued: “I heard friends describe what it was like to go into Sednaya this week. They found bags of bones, fresh blood still on the floor, the smell of death and torture machines. It’s the most shocking thing.
As the atrocities committed by the Assad regime in Sednaya become clearer, attention has turned to the mass graves after days of searching for survivors and realizing that some may never be found. Browder’s team on the ground in Syria is currently gathering evidence. “We are documenting, we are interviewing people there, trying to use equipment to uncover any possibility of a secret underground prison.” He said the team recently worked at the site of a mass grave where “we estimate 100,000 people are buried.” .
“Some of the people in these mass graves came from Sednaya and died under torture,” Alhendi said. “Many had gunshot wounds, and their bodies were moved to large areas where the regime had placed old military equipment to create the illusion of a military no-go zone. Locals reported seeing refrigerated trucks entering the area and security forces blocking the road to the trucks. After staying there for a few hours before leaving, people got used to the smell of death.
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Photo taken on December 3, 2024 at the entrance to Qures military airport in eastern Aleppo province, shows a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the flag of a rebel group in a trash bin after taking over the area. A war observer said on December 1 that Ankara-backed groups had seized control of the towns of Safireh and Khanasser in southeastern Aleppo from government forces and captured Qures. (Kweyris) Military Airfield. (Photo by Rami Al Said/AFP via Getty Images)
Sednaya prison became a symbol of the regime’s brutal repression. “This is not just political opponents,” said Alhendi, who was arrested for founding a secular anti-regime student organization. “Children and women were also held hostage to pressure their fathers or husbands. We found children born there who were raped by prison guards. Entire families were destroyed by the regime.”
Conditions in Sednaya are inhumane. Prisoners were regularly starved, beaten and electrocuted. “When they execute a man, they don’t feed him for three days before the execution. The guards say, ‘Why feed him? We get our own food.'” Imagine a person is dying and they first starve, even The dignity of the last meal was taken away,” Alhendi said.
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Investigators, civilians and rebels scoured Sednaya prison, hoping to find hidden compartments where detainees might still be held. Outside, hundreds of families anxiously awaited news of missing or disappeared relatives, holding on to hopes of reunion. Sednaya is a notorious “human slaughterhouse” outside Damascus where thousands of regime opponents were imprisoned, tortured and killed from the early days of the uprising in 2011 through the long and brutal civil war. Filming took place as rebels entered Sednaya. Syria, December 10, 2024. (Sandro Basili Abaca/Sipa, AP Photo)
The atrocities committed in Sednaya are part of a wider campaign by the Assad regime to eliminate its opposition in the most horrific ways. Both Browder and Alhendi emphasized the need for accountability. “What we need now is truth and reconciliation,” Browder said. “Only by acknowledging the suffering and recognizing the full scope of the atrocities can Syria begin to heal. If we do not do this, we risk being trapped in a perpetual cycle of revenge.”
Sednaya was liberated and thousands of prisoners were released after the fall of Assad’s regime earlier this month. “The prisoners coming out of Sednaya are traumatized, many of them don’t even remember their names,” Alhendi said. “They were detained for so long that they didn’t even know Assad’s father had died. They thought Assad was still in power.”
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Robert Pettit, head of the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria (IIIM), visited Damascus and observed the extensive documentation of the regime’s atrocities, noting in a press release that the extent to which these crimes are systematized is “chilling” . He stressed the urgent need to preserve this evidence, warning: “Time is running out. The chances of protecting these sites and the material they hold are slim. If we don’t do this, we face losing the chance of a full investigation every day.” risk.
Browder said the investigations into Sednaya and the mass graves painted a horrific picture of regime violence, but they also called for justice. “The atrocities committed by the Assad regime have had far-reaching consequences. The key question now is how people move forward and rebuild, rather than sinking into further civil war. There are fears of a cycle of revenge, but true reconciliation can only be achieved through truth and acknowledgment. “
“Ninety-nine percent of prison guards in Syria belong to the Alawite ethnic group,” he said. “We are talking about the young people of the Alawite half, since most of them work in the army or the secret police. The rebels proposed a solution: Russia would hand over Assad and 100 senior officials responsible for atrocities officials.
