Notorious prison

Search for survivors in Assad’s “slaughterhouse”

Satellite images show the prison known as the "slaughterhouse" - after the fall of the Assad government, the search for survivors is underway there.(Bild: Wikimedia Commons/99snake)

After the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, activists are searching for political prisoners in a notorious detention center. Rebels claim to have already freed hundreds of inmates, including women and children, from underground cells. But many people are probably still stuck in the cruel "red cells".

Members of the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, have been systematically operating in the notorious Saidnaya military prison north of Damascus, as its head writes on the X platform (formerly Twitter).

Satellite images show the prison known as the "slaughterhouse" - after the fall of the Assad government, the search for survivors is underway there.(Bild: Wikimedia Commons/99snake)

Search for secret cells in the basement
Civil defense specialists used dogs and sound sensors, among other things, to search for secret cells in the basement of the prison. "We are accompanied by people who know all the details of the prison," wrote Raid Al Saleh, head of the White Helmets. So far, however, the search has been unsuccessful. The work will continue, Al Saleh continued.

In the course of the seizure of power by Islamist rebels in Syria, numerous people imprisoned under President Bashar al-Assad have been released. Saidnaya, one of several notorious prisons, became known among Syrians as the "slaughterhouse" due to the brutal treatment of the guards.

Probably thousands of people executed in "slaughterhouse"
An Amnesty International report from 2017 states that thousands of people have been killed in mass executions in Saidnaya since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Prisoners have also been tortured, most of whom were opposition civilians.