Families Search for Missing Relatives at Saydnaya Prison After Syrian Regime’s Collapse

Following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, hundreds of individuals have converged on Saydnaya prison, a location widely regarded as a symbol of his oppressive governance. This infamous military facility has historically held tens of thousands of individuals deemed to have opposed the Syrian government across several decades. Jwan Omar, a Syrian residing in Turkey, was among those searching for individuals who had disappeared within the prison’s confines. He journeyed to Saydnaya prison on Sunday to seek his father-in-law, who vanished in 2013 after being arrested by the regime on accusations of aiding the opposition. Omar informed the BBC, “I went to the prison and showed photos of my father-in-law but nobody recognised him.” He added, “My wife dreamed for 11 years of finding her father. Our hopes were raised when we heard the prisoners were released, but my wife has been crying since yesterday.” Omar expressed disappointment upon learning that numerous prisoners had been transferred elsewhere. Omar was accompanied to the prison by his friend, Dr. Sharvan Ibesh, the chief executive of the Syrian aid group Bahar, who has been assisting with the search efforts. Dr. Ibesh characterized the situation at the prison as “chaos,” with hundreds of individuals attempting to locate their missing loved ones. Dr. Ibesh further stated: “Hundreds of people were coming out of the prison and we were told we could not come in because so many people were getting in the way of the rescuers.” The Syrian civil defence group, the White Helmets, has been conducting searches for inmates at Saydnaya, prompted by prisoner accounts of clandestine entrances to subterranean cells; however, no such entrances have been discovered. The downfall of Assad has instilled renewed hope in many families that they may locate loved ones who disappeared in prisons. Among these is the Nadaf family from Idlib, currently seeking Thaer Nadaf, who was arrested and transferred to Saydnaya in 2011. At the time of his arrest, Thaer had two young children: an infant and a two-year-old. His son, Mustafa, now aged 12, conveyed to the BBC: “I hope he comes back. I swear I miss him, I have never heard his voice.” Fayzah Nadaf, Thaer’s mother, stated that “nobody knows the reason why he was arrested.” She dispatched her other son, Mohammad, to the prison in Damascus in an attempt to locate him. A physician who departed the prison two months prior informed them that Thaer was still alive. The family presumes he is detained in the subterranean area of the Saydnaya complex. “I am looking forward to seeing my son again,” Fayzah expressed. “He has been missing for 12 years, and all the time I prayed that he could see his children again.” A mosque situated 20 kilometers away is serving as a designated meeting point for recently released prisoners and their families. During his visit there on Sunday, Ibesh observed several newly liberated individuals who appeared to be in a traumatized condition, he reported to the BBC. A group of people gathered around two recently released men, offering assistance. Ibesh noted, “[They] had been held in the prison for several years and they were disorientated.” He added, “They didn’t even know the time zone.” “People around them were asking ‘what’s your name’ and ‘how old are you?’, but they could not even answer those questions,” Ibesh recounted. He stated that discerning their age by appearance was challenging, further remarking: “The men were totally lost, they were just staring ahead.” Although numerous family reunions have occurred since the prisoners’ release, the search persists for many others. The Assad regime incarcerated hundreds of thousands of political prisoners. The Turkey-based Association of Detainees and The Missing in Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP) characterized Saydnaya as a “death camp.” Throughout the civil war, which commenced in 2011, government forces detained hundreds of thousands of individuals in various camps, where human rights organizations report that torture was a widespread practice.