Dead, missing and united: three stories of Syrian prisoners
Dead, missing and united: three stories of Syrian prisoners
after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad ago, a few days ago Syria in the notorious detention centers of his regime to desperately search for relatives who have been detained or have been violent.
The painful memories of captivity
In the meantime, thousands of prisoners have been released, many of them after decades of detention under the most brutal conditions. Nevertheless, there are still many missing people, and every hour the hope of seeing again.
according to the Syrian Syrian Observatory for Human Rights surveillance group based in the UK were during the 13-year-old civil war in Syria killed almost half a million people, with an estimated up to 100,000 of the victims of the regime.
The story of Mazen al-Hamada
One of the most sought-after fates that have been shared online in the past few days is that from Mazen al-Hamada. When an uprising against Assad's iron management style broke out in spring 2011, Al-Hamada was one of the first to join and later demonstrations in his hometown Deir ezzor organized.
Through these hopes and his commitment, he quickly became the goal of the regime. In 2012, Al-Hamada was arrested by the air force security forces after smuggling baby food into a besieged suburb of Damascus.
fight against torture and for justice
He was exposed to cruel torture for almost two years, including unimaginable psychological abuse. He later said that he had confessed that he had not committed after an officer attached a pliers around his penis and increasingly tightened until the pain almost insane.
When al-Hamada was finally released, he found his city in ruins and in 2014 fled his life to Holland for fear. In Europe he gained awareness when he reported in a documentary in 2017 about the torture that he had suffered in a regime prison.
"They put me on the floor and broke my ribs," he said in the film. "(An officer) jumped on my body and let me fall as much as possible. I heard my bones break."
a life's work in the shadow of hopelessness
al-Hamada's struggle for justice and change led him over Europe and the United States, where he described the horrors that he had suffered in Assad's prisons. He spoke to journalists, met high -ranking government officials and gave lectures to draw attention to the need of his compatriots.
But despite all efforts, nothing seemed to change; The war continued to demand human life, and the world turned away from the painful events in Syria. Al-Hamada was frustrated and depressed, his friend Omar Alshhrre reported. In 2020 he fled back to Damascus, under the pretext that government officials granted him security. But he was arrested by the security forces immediately when he arrived and disappeared without a trace.
When Al-Hamada's body was found in a hospital in Damascus, his cruel story became a symbol of the suffering of people in Syria and for the brutality of the regime, even in his last days.
The tragic story of Rania al-Abbasi
At the beginning of the rebellion in Syria, Rania al-Abbasi, dentist and national chess master, lived a comfortable life in Damascus with her husband and six children. But when the unrest began, the life of the family was destroyed by an act of generosity when they helped a family besieged by the regime. As a result, Rania and her entire family were arrested or disappeared without a trace.The desperate efforts of her sister Naila to find the family were made more difficult by the relentless persecution of the regime. Despite extensive research, the questions remained unanswered and hope disappeared over time.
The return of Tal al-Mallouhi
After they have been separated for almost 15 years, AHD al-Mallouhi can finally hug her beloved daughter Tal. Tal was arrested with a group of bloggers because of her political blog posts. In her first photos after her release, she shows a cautious smile. But the horrors that she suffered during her detention will remain a lasting wound for the family.
"Syria was first freed, then my daughter was released," said Ahd. "Maybe I would still be afraid for her if she had been released alone."
The stories of this and many other Syrians are memorials of survival and continuing struggle for freedom and justice, which must continue to be heard loudly.