The situation of detainees in Syria, amid fears of Covid19

Expressive drawing on the conditions of detainees in Syrian intelligence prisons, by artist: Marc Nelson – Photo from page: Detainees’ voice on Facebook

Over the years, a layer of worn-out skin and bleeding wounds mixed with sweat and silent tears are forming on the floor. Showers are forbidden. Clothes cannot be washed. No water inside solitary confinement.

High humidity, lack of ventilation, absence of sun, medical and hygiene care, and lack of food weaken the body’s immunity.

So the wounds caused by torture swell, rot with the bones, and attract insects that, after weeks, turn into worms that eat the detainee alive.

For treatment the injured part is cut off in the military hospital, then they return the detainee to prison, where his wounds will rot again, and he will die in the dark.

‘More than 130,000 detainees in Syria, thousands of whom were killed under torture,’ Syrian Network said.

I still remember F.A, a hero fighter from the Free Syrian Army, who was arrested wounded, unconscious from bleeding.

Whenever they deliberately beat him on his wounds, they’d bring a doctor to change his bandages, then they’d tell him: you will die very slowly.

One day I heard them say that his body had swollen for days, that he died. He was not another lucky detainee freed from torture.

But a jailer got infected, in Military Intelligence Branch 235, known as the Palestine Branch located in southern Damascus.

Locations of detention centers that were identified by multiple witnesses. Using satellite imagery, Human Rights Watch asked the victims and defectors to point out the buildings where torture took place. Former detainees and defectors corroborated the findings. © 2012 Human Rights Watch

Food there is half an egg or potato, a tablespoon of yogurt, a piece of cheese, or a quarter cup of rice.

The detainees get very thin.

Between mid-2012 to mid-2013, they gave us a lunch of rice with little meat. We once found part of a human ear in it.

‘If you took pictures of the detainees now, you would see people who looked like those that are in the Caesar photographs, only they would be alive … The ones who died are the lucky ones.’ former detainee told Human Rights Watch in 2015.

Sometimes, about 16 detainees are placed in a cell measuring less than 4 sq. meters. They take turns sleeping while sitting up.

With fatigue, torture, diseases, and lack of sleep, some have mental breakdowns.

One by one they fall from severe exhaustion. In al-Qaboun Military Prison, there is no place to sleep because of the crowds, everyone is standing.

I remember a jailer who was laughing saying: ‘Death here is better than going to Saydnaya Military Prison.’

The situation is not better in Adra civil prison–without bribes, it is allowed to shower once a week. Some sleep in the corridors. Overcrowding makes cleanliness so difficult.

You can read this piece in Arabic (عربي)