Saydnaya Prison: Unveiling the Assad Regime’s Notorious Detention Facility

Following the Assad regime’s downfall on Sunday, Syrian citizens seeking information about their family members have converged on Saydnaya, Syria’s most clandestine and infamous prison. Founded in the early 1980s in a town approximately 30km (19 miles) north of Damascus, the capital, Saydnaya served for decades as the Assad family’s detention site for regime opponents. Human rights organizations have labeled it a “human slaughterhouse,” and it is reported that thousands have been imprisoned, subjected to torture, and executed there since the Syrian civil war commenced in 2011. The internal structure of Saydnaya has remained a tightly held secret, with no prior images from within the facility ever being publicly released. The architectural specifics of the prison’s design are ascertainable solely through interviews conducted with individuals who previously served as guards or were held as detainees. Nevertheless, data provided by human rights organizations and the US State Department has illuminated the facility, which evolved into a potent emblem of the Assad family’s harsh and authoritarian governance. For many decades, Saydnaya was managed by the Syrian military police and military intelligence, with its construction initiating in the early 1980s. The initial prisoners were brought to the 1.4 sq km complex in 1987, during the 16th year of President Hafeez al-Assad’s tenure, who was Bashar’s father. Upon reaching full operational capacity, the prison encompassed two primary detention structures. According to rights groups, the White Building was primarily constructed to incarcerate military officers and soldiers suspected of disloyalty to the regime. This L-shaped structure was situated in the south-east sector of the extensive complex. The Red Building, serving as the principal prison, was designated for regime adversaries, initially including individuals suspected of belonging to Islamist organizations. This section was characterized by its unique Y-shape, featuring three linear corridors extending from a central point. Estimates from rights groups, based on discussions with former prisoners, suggest that the two buildings could accommodate approximately 10,000 to 20,000 individuals. Footage that has been circulating online since Sunday, and authenticated by BBC Verify, depicted a sizable surveillance chamber within the prison, equipped with numerous CCTV monitors displaying what seemed to be scores of prison cells. A report published by Amnesty International in 2017, referencing former guards at the facility, indicated that following the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the White Building was cleared of its existing inmates and subsequently prepared to hold individuals apprehended for participating in demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad’s government. An ex-officer informed Amnesty that “after 2011, [Saydnaya] became the main political prison in Syria.” The organization further cited accounts from former detainees asserting that those confined in the Red Building were routinely subjected to diverse forms of torture, such as brutal beatings, sexual assault, and deprivation of sustenance and medical care. Below the White Building, there is a space identified by individuals who spoke with Amnesty as an “execution room,” where prisoners from the Red Building were transported for hanging. A former guard recounted that a list of individuals slated for execution from the Red Building would be delivered at midday. Soldiers would then escort those condemned to a basement holding cell, which occasionally held as many as 100 people, where they endured beatings. Detainees in the Red Building were typically “transferred” from the facility during the late hours of the night, usually between midnight and 03:00, according to prisoners interviewed by Amnesty. Blindfolded individuals were then guided down a staircase into the “execution room” located in the south-east part of the White Building, before being brought onto a one-meter-high platform equipped with 10 nooses, where their executions by hanging took place. Amnesty reported that in 2012, the room underwent expansion to include a second platform featuring an additional 20 nooses. Following the regime’s collapse, video content disseminated by media outlets linked to rebels showed combatants exhibiting numerous nooses discovered in various rooms within Saydnaya. Human rights organizations estimate that over 30,000 prisoners were either executed or perished due to torture, inadequate medical attention, or starvation between 2011 and 2018. The Association of the Missing and Detainees in Saydnaya Prison (AMDSP) stated in 2022, citing testimonies from the limited number of released inmates, that a minimum of 500 additional detainees were executed between 2018 and 2021. In 2017, the US State Department asserted that a potential crematorium had been built by authorities at the location to dispose of the bodies of deceased prisoners. In the provided images, a small annex is visible adjacent to the White Building. A spokesperson for the State Department indicated that officials had erected the facility as part of “an effort to cover up the extent of mass murders taking place in Saydnaya prison.” Satellite imagery released by US investigators revealed a structure they identified as a small building repurposed into a crematorium. Officials noted that snow melting on the building’s roof supported their assertions, further stating that at least 50 prisoners were being hanged daily at the facility during that period. Historically, the complex was rigorously secured, featuring fortifications encompassing its perimeter. The prison’s exterior was patrolled by a contingent of 200 military personnel, while an additional 250 soldiers from military intelligence and the military police were tasked with internal security, as per the 2022 report by AMDSP. Personnel from the 21st Brigade of the army’s Third Division were selected to guard the prison due to their staunch allegiance to the regime. These soldiers were under the command of officers belonging to President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite minority. Following the collapse of the Assad regime, civilians have been advised against attempting to breach the prison’s perimeter. Human rights organizations report that the complex’s exterior is understood to be extensively mined. An outer ring of anti-tank munitions encircles the prison, complemented by a secondary ring of anti-personnel mines positioned through the facility’s core. Photographs disseminated by the White Helmets, a Syrian civil defense organization, depicted tall walls crowned with barbed wire also enclosing the complex. Observation towers are also visible at various points across the facility. The Assad regime consistently refuted the allegations made against it by international bodies, characterizing them as “baseless” and “devoid of truth.” Amnesty states that for families who suspect their relatives were incarcerated in Saydnaya, the regime’s collapse “raises the prospect that they could finally discover the fate of their missing loved ones, in some cases decades later.”