Syria: Doctors rush to Sednaya prison to help freed prisoners

Syrian doctors are rushing to the Sednaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus to help prisoners who have been freed from the notorious detention facility after rebels ousted former president Bashar al-Assad. 

Doctors who spoke to Middle East Eye said they reached the prison on Monday morning and were concerned that prisoners would be heavily malnourished and suffer from infectious diseases like tuberculosis and hepatitis. 

Doctor Mahmoud Mustafa travelled overnight in a medical convoy with a team of doctors and two ambulances to Sednaya, where hundreds of people had flocked to hear news of their relatives and friends held inside the prison. 

Driving through heavy traffic, Mustafa said his convoy passed soldiers from the Syrian army who were still in their military fatigues after leaving their army posts. 

"The majority of prisoners have spent long years in the prisons. Some are suffering from malnutrition and other chronic illnesses," Mustafa told MEE.

"Skin disease is widespread. Some have spent long years without light in underground dungeons."

Mustafa highlighted how fighters need to coordinate the release of prisoners as he fears they will not be properly treated and assessed to ensure they are healthy. 

"We have a large number of people entering the prison and looking for their relatives. But their release should be coordinated as they need to be fed gradually and there are a large number of medical recommendations that need to be considered." 

Refeeding syndrome 

Syrian doctor and activist Karim Aljian echoed Mustafa's concerns. He fears that many of the prisoners will suffer from refeeding syndrome as many of them have "probably been chronically starved". 

'Some are suffering from malnutrition and other chronic illnesses. Skin disease is widespread. Some have spent long years without light in underground dungeons

- Mahmoud Mustafa, doctor

Aljian explained that many prisoners freed from Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II died within three days because their bodies, weakened by prolonged starvation, could not handle the sudden overfeeding by Soviet soldiers who liberated the camps.

"The overwhelming amount of electrolytes and nutrients going into their body shifted the equilibrium of their bodies and led to them suffering from things like seizures and cardiac arrest," said Aljian.

"So the focus now is to raise awareness about this issue because to the layman who's not a doctor or a health practitioner, they won't know what to do, because we know these families will be preparing feasts for their loved ones just released from places like Sednaya and other prisons.

"We deal with refeeding syndrome often with patients who have eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia." 

Aljian also raised concerns about the spread of tuberculosis, given the cramped conditions many prisoners endured in Sednaya and other prisons across the country. 

'Human slaughterhouse'

The Sednaya prison, located near Damascus, is notorious for its brutal treatment of detainees, most of whom are political prisoners. 

Dubbed the "human slaughterhouse" by Amnesty International, the prison has been the site of mass executions, torture, and inhumane conditions. 

Reports estimate that thousands of inmates have been killed since 2011, often without fair trials.

Since the fall of the Assad dynasty, hundreds of Syrians have flocked to the prison with roads leading up to it blocked by traffic. Thousands of prisoners are reported to be trapped in lower levels of the prison as attempts are made to find and free them. 

Pictures posted online showed opposition fighters breaking into Sednaya prison to free thousands of detainees, many of whom had been locked up for decades.

Among the prisoners freed from Sednaya include young children, women and men of all ages.