Perched on a hilltop 30km north of Damascus, Sednaya prison looms as a chilling monument to Syria’s history of repression during the past 50 years.
For decades, it symbolised the terror inflicted on the Syrian people under former president Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad.
Dubbed the “human slaughterhouse”, Sednaya was the site of systemic torture, violence and killing.
But on Sunday it became the scene of unexpected joy. With the fall of Assad, fighters ran from cell to cell, using Kalashnikovs and hammers to release those inside. Outside families clogged the roads, hoping to find their loved ones.
") rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;">Among those imprisoned were young children, detained with their families who were accused of fabricated crimes. In one cell, dozens of women screamed in disbelief when their liberators announced their freedom. This aerial photo shows traffic as people gather at the Sednaya prison in Damascus on December 9, 2024 (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP)
") rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;">Deep below ground, dozens of men were found emaciated, reduced to skin and bones. Some were too weak to stand and had to be carried to the surface and daylight.
When was Sednaya built?
Established in 1987 during Hafez al-Assad’s rule, Sednaya initially served as a military detention centre. But under his son and successor Bashar al-Assad, it gained infamy as a facility used to crush political dissent, especially after the outbreak of Syria’s civil war in 2011.
Relatives wait outside the Sednaya prison near Damascus on 11 December 2024 (AFP)
Activists, journalists and civilians accused of opposing Assad’s government were funnelled into its cells.
At its peak, Syrian and international human rights groups believe that it held between 10,000 and 20,000 prisoners.
What were conditions like inside Sednaya?
For decades, the exact details and structure of Sednaya’s were unknown: the closest human rights activists could get were satellite images on Google Maps.
But when rebels broke inside the prison at the weekend, they found dozens of men and women, often deprived of natural light, trapped inside cramped cells.
So far, initial investigations of the prison have identified two zones: the "white wing", as prisoners called it, which was above ground and contained the execution block; and the "red wing", which was underground and where it is believed severe torture took place.
Hayat al-Turki, 27, gestures as she stands amid belongings inside Sednaya prison, while searching the prison in the hope of finding her relatives (Ammar Awad/Reuters)
") rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;">Rumours began to circulate, according to Reuters, among those gathered that detainees were being held underground in the red wing, but Syrian civil defence forces concluded their search on Monday and said they could not find any more prisoners.
Often, prisoners would have been taken suddenly and arbitrarily, with their families given no information as to their whereabouts or condition for months or even years.
Many relatives only learned of a detainee's fate when they saw their photo among the Caesar Photos, a collection of over 50,000 images smuggled out of Syria and publicised in January 2014 that documented victims of torture and starvation.
What torture took place in Sednaya?
Former detainees who spoke to Amnesty International for its 2017 report on Sedneya described extreme and varied violence and abuse inside the prison.
Physical torture was rampant, they said, with prisoners regularly beaten with sticks, metal pipes, and cables.
Methods used included the dulab (the Arabic for "wheel"), where prisoners were forced into a car tyre and beaten; and falaqa ("foot whipping") when the soles of the feet were struck with cables. Prisoners were also suspended by their wrists or arms, causing dislocated joints and long-term injuries.
Psychological torture compounded the suffering. Guards threatened prisoners with execution and subjected them to degrading treatment, such as forced nudity. Methods of sensory deprivation included detainees being blindfolded for weeks or confined in darkness.
One survivor told Amnesty: “The screams of pain never left me. They were louder than the silence of our isolation.”
Items found underground at Sednaya prison have included a mechanical press (AFP)
") rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;">Detainees also reported being intentionally starved or receiving minimal and often inedible food. Many suffered from severe malnutrition, skin diseases and other illnesses due to a lack of food and natural light.
Medical care was almost entirely denied, even for life-threatening injuries, leaving many to die from neglect. “We ate what was given to us because we had no choice, but it was not food - it was filth,” one former prisoner recalled.
Sexual violence was another weapon used to degrade and control detainees. Amnesty documented cases of rape and sexual assault targeting both men and women, leaving deep psychological scars.
What about executions in Sednaya?
Aside from those killed through torture or lack of healthcare, executions were also carried out in secret in the prison.
Amnesty reported in 2017 that thousands of detainees were hanged following sham trials that lasted only minutes. Between 5,000 and 13,000 people were executed, mostly by hanging, between 2011 and 2015, according to Amnesty.
Survivors described the fear that permeated the prison, knowing those taken from their cells would never return.
As one survivor told Amnesty: “Sednaya is not a prison - it is a place where humanity ceases to exist."
