The mother’s tears: “Where is my son? Fuck you Bashar al Assad!” • “Strong stench of corpses”
A strong stench of corpses and decay emanates from the basement floor of Saydnaya prison north of Damascus. The smell comes from clothes and sheets wrapped around dead people found in the cold room when the jihadist-led rebels seized control of the country and freed the inmates of the notorious prison.
The colossal building, a maze of stairs, floors and room after room, is seen as the symbol of fallen dictator Bashar al-Assad’s brutality. Since the war began, tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned in Saydnaya and human rights organizations believe around 30,000 have been killed, starved or tortured to death and then buried in mass graves.
Thousands of prisoners gone without a trace
The few who managed to get out have testified to cruel torture methods, rape and psychological abuse. Relatives who tried to get in touch with relatives or sought information about them have been constantly prevented.
When the jihadist-led rebels opened the padlocks to the prison a few days ago, many hoped to be reunited. But thousands of prisoners are missing without a trace.
– Where is my son, where will I find him, where is he? Fuck you Bashar, screams Safinaz Shoybi with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Yesterday 22:21
“Must have been terrible for the relatives”
Never was a prison
She and hundreds of others are searching among all the documents for the slightest trace of their family member. Instead, they find evidence that the executions took place without trial.
– Look here are execution papers, a death wish, signed in blank by a judge. Then it was free to execute someone and write the name there afterwards, says Jalal.
Most likely, they will never know where their family member is or is buried.
– We want Assad arrested and executed. This was never a prison, it was a place of massacre and execution, says Safinaz Shoybi.