For almost 50 years, the Assad family was able to remain in power in Syria, despite a nearly 14 -year -old war. Then, to the surprise of many, the regime had been overthrown in less than two weeks.
At the end of November, rebel groups, led by the Jihadist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), began an attack on the now overthrown dictator Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Aleppoprovinsen in northern Syria. Then followed a lightning offensive that in less than two weeks advanced from the northern parts of the country to the capital Damascus.
While the rebel groups reached Damascus, Bashar al-Assad had left the country by air and sought refuge in Russia, where he was granted political asylum.
Saydnaya prison
After Bashar al-Assad was overthrown, light was again against the infamous Saydnaya prison, which is a few kilometers outside Damascus. First and foremost, political prisoners were held imprisoned there.
Between 2011 and 2015, in the middle of the Civil War, thousands of people are estimated to have been executed there, according to a noted report from Amnesty. The human rights organization has also described the prison as a “slaughterhouse for humans”.
See the former prisoner’s testimony from the horror prison in the video above.