7 facts about Assad's extermination camp Rescuers find children and women in secret chambers
Rescuers comb through the Saidnaya military prison in groups: Assad's torture prison turns out to be an extermination camp with secret underground chambers that could have been inspired by a high-ranking Nazi.
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- With the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the notorious Saidnaya military prison not far from Damascus was also liberated.
- Hafiz al-Assad built it in 1986 for 10,000 to 20,000 political opponents.
- Since the beginning of the civil war in 2011, the regime has used Saidnaya extensively: There have been reports of executions.
- After Assad's fall, up to 50,000 people were freed there. Because secret underground chambers have been discovered, the search for detainees continues.
- The detainees come from all walks of life. Men, women, children and the elderly have left Saidnaya.
- It is now clear that there was systematic torture, rape and executions. There was also a crematorium.
- Nazi Alois Brunner, who was involved in the Holocaust and died in Syria, may have influenced the construction of the facility.
- Those responsible should be brought to justice.
With the fall of Syria's dictator Bashar al-Assad, the notorious Saidnaya military prison is also liberated: On the night of December 7-8, southern rebel groups - they are Sunni and Druze - capture the facility, located 17 kilometers north of Damascus.
Here are 7 things you need to know about it.
What is this place?
In 1986, the then ruler Hafiz al-Assad built a prison for opponents of the regime, run by the Ministry of Defense and the military police. It is designed for 10,000 to 20,000 prisoners.
Civilians will be housed in the three-winged building and military personnel in the white buildings to the west. The 1400-hectare site is protected by a total of four security rings.
The first prisoners move in in 1987. After the death of his father in June 2000, Bashar al-Assad becomes president. The prison initially appeared to be underutilized: in 2008, Syrian activist Ammar al-Qurabi spoke of only 1500 to 2000 inmates.
How did Saidnaya become a torture prison?
With the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, the role of Saidnaya also changed: from 2016, there were the first reports of mass executions.
In May 2017, the USA accused Syria of operating a crematorium on the site in order to dispose of corpses. Satellite images would indicate this because there is no snow on the building in winter. The matter is not clarified at first. In January 2021, activists estimate the number of people killed there since 2011 at 30,000.
What is found first?
The liberation shows: What was feared with regard to the prison is true, and it is apparently much worse. The news agency dpa writes that up to 50,000 people are estimated to have been freed in Saidnaya.
According to its head, Raid Al Saleh, the White Helmets civil defence group is combing the area with five specialized emergency teams to find more detainees: They have discovered secret chambers under the prison, report reporters from the Turkish news agency "Anadolu Ajansı".
Former prisoners are helping the rescuers. Sound sensors and dogs are also being used. The problem is apparently that electronic doors cannot be opened due to a lack of codes: Some prisoners have to be drilled and hammered out of their cells with great effort.
What are the fates?
Tens of thousands.
What says a lot about Saidnaya is the rush of families to the prison. When the news of the liberation spreads, not only those whose relatives are imprisoned there flock there, but also all those who are missing someone.
People of all ages and backgrounds are freed. Men, women. Children too. And old people. Some of them have been imprisoned for decades and are scarred by torture and abuse. The female inmates have often been raped and have given birth to children who have never seen daylight or a tree. Many of the pictures cannot be shown here.
One liberated man can hardly believe his luck: "Our execution was scheduled for half an hour ago. 54 people ...", he is quoted as saying. "Our execution was today!"
What does a second glance show?
At second glance, it becomes clear that there is a system behind the inhumane cruelty. There are dozens of videos showing freed prisoners with clear physical and psychological signs of torture that are difficult to bear.
The surveillance of the prisoners was apparently omnipresent.
Executions were the order of the day, data and videos show. Prisoners were shot in mass graves or otherwise killed and burned. "There were corpses in the ovens. It was absurd what we witnessed, and this behavior is against humanity," Weisshelm Al Saleh told the news channel Al-Jazeera.
What has Assad learned from the Nazis?
The images of Saidnaya remind many commentators of the concentration camps of the "Third Reich". In fact, the military prison could have been inspired by a Nazi: Alois Brunner. As SS-Hauptsturmführer and confidant of Adolf Eichmann, he played a key role in the planning and execution of the Holocaust.
Brunner fled West Germany in 1954 before landing in Syria and working as an advisor to the government. It is not known what he advised Damascus on. Brunner is believed to have died in the Syrian capital either in 2001 or 2010.
What happens now?
The Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) wants to name the ex-officers involved in state torture in Syria in a list and hold them accountable as war criminals.
"We will offer rewards to anyone who provides information about high-ranking officers from the army and security authorities who were involved in war crimes," announced HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously went by his combat name Abu Muhammad al-Julani. The names of the highest-ranking ex-officers involved were to be published in an initial list.
The statement continued: "We will not hesitate to bring to justice the criminals, murderers, security and army officers who were involved in the torture of the Syrian people. We will prosecute war criminals and ask countries to which they have fled to hand them over."
With material from dpa.