Shocking Revelation: Over 1,000 Syrians Executed and Tortured at Damascus Airport Prison
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In a harrowing revelation, more than 1,000 Syrians have been reported dead due to executions, torture, or maltreatment at a military airport on the outskirts of Damascus. According to an exclusive report shared with Reuters by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC), the Mezzeh military airport became a site of horror under the Assad regime, serving as a brutal detention facility from 2011 to 2017. The report traces these deaths to seven suspected grave sites identified using a combination of satellite imagery, witness testimonies, and photographed documents obtained after President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December. Shockingly, some of these mass graves were found within the airport grounds, while others were scattered across Damascus, painting a grim picture of systemic violence and enforced disappearances.
The Mezzeh military airport was a key part of Assad’s machinery of repression, housing at least 29,000 detainees between 2011 and 2017. Witnesses described unimaginable cruelty inflicted upon prisoners, with death coming in many forms. Shadi Haroun, one of the report’s authors and a former detainee, recounted daily interrogations that combined physical and psychological torture aimed at extracting false confessions. Haroun vividly described hearing gunshots every couple of days and seeing the devastating effects of untreated wounds caused by brutal beatings. One cellmate’s foot, for instance, had to be amputated after a whipping injury was left unsterilized, leading to gangrene. These accounts underscore the horrors endured by those imprisoned at Mezzeh and highlight the Assad regime's relentless use of violence to silence dissent.
The SJAC report relies on extensive research, including interviews with 156 survivors and eight former members of air force intelligence, a notorious arm of Syria’s security service. This intelligence unit was directly responsible for the surveillance, imprisonment, and execution of individuals deemed threats to the regime. The report reveals how air force intelligence officers converted over a dozen hangars, dormitories, and offices at Mezzeh into makeshift prisons by 2020, reinforcing the site’s grim purpose. Furthermore, SJAC uncovered two intelligence datasets listing a staggering 1,154 detainees who perished at Mezzeh between 2011 and 2017. The data, leaked through a Facebook group monitored by SJAC, was meticulously cross-checked against other documents and witness statements, painting a deeply distressing portrait of systemic abuse.
What adds to the horror is the discovery of mass graves linked to Mezzeh's dark history. Reuters reporters, while unable to independently confirm the existence of the graves, observed signs of disturbed earth at multiple sites identified by SJAC. Clear evidence of long trenches dug during periods consistent with witness accounts emerged at two locations: one on Mezzeh airport property and another at a cemetery in Najha. The report describes how civilians were often hanged, while officers and soldiers faced firing squads, with many victims buried near the hangar where executions took place. These newly discovered graves, according to a colonel from the new government’s Interior Ministry, are just the beginning of uncovering the Assad regime's bloody legacy.
The Assad regime's brutal crackdown on dissent, which began in 2011, spiraled into a full-scale war, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. Human rights groups, foreign governments, and war-crimes prosecutors have long accused both Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez of orchestrating extrajudicial killings and mass executions within Syria's prison system. The SJAC report focuses on the early years of the uprising but also includes testimonies from former regime officers at Mezzeh, shedding light on abuses that persisted until Assad's fall. As these shocking revelations surface, the grim reality of Syria’s prisons continues to haunt the nation's fight for justice and accountability.
Adding an international dimension to this tragedy, the U.S. Justice Department recently unsealed war crimes charges against two senior Syrian air force intelligence officers. These charges accuse them of inflicting cruel and inhuman treatment on detainees at the Mezzeh military airport, including U.S. citizens. The move underscores the global condemnation of the Assad regime's atrocities and highlights ongoing efforts to hold those responsible accountable. As the world grapples with the horrors unveiled by the SJAC report, the call for justice grows louder, demanding accountability for the countless lives lost and shattered under Assad's brutal rule.
The discovery of these mass graves and the extensive evidence of torture at Mezzeh military airport serve as a chilling reminder of the Assad regime's reign of terror. While the new government seeks to uncover the fate of more than 100,000 missing persons from Assad's prisons, the path to justice remains long and fraught with challenges. The SJAC's findings provide a crucial step toward exposing the regime's crimes and honoring the memory of those who suffered unspeakable horrors behind the walls of Mezzeh. As Syria moves forward, the pursuit of truth and accountability stands as a beacon of hope for a nation scarred by years of relentless violence and oppression.
The Mezzeh military airport was a key part of Assad’s machinery of repression, housing at least 29,000 detainees between 2011 and 2017. Witnesses described unimaginable cruelty inflicted upon prisoners, with death coming in many forms. Shadi Haroun, one of the report’s authors and a former detainee, recounted daily interrogations that combined physical and psychological torture aimed at extracting false confessions. Haroun vividly described hearing gunshots every couple of days and seeing the devastating effects of untreated wounds caused by brutal beatings. One cellmate’s foot, for instance, had to be amputated after a whipping injury was left unsterilized, leading to gangrene. These accounts underscore the horrors endured by those imprisoned at Mezzeh and highlight the Assad regime's relentless use of violence to silence dissent.
The SJAC report relies on extensive research, including interviews with 156 survivors and eight former members of air force intelligence, a notorious arm of Syria’s security service. This intelligence unit was directly responsible for the surveillance, imprisonment, and execution of individuals deemed threats to the regime. The report reveals how air force intelligence officers converted over a dozen hangars, dormitories, and offices at Mezzeh into makeshift prisons by 2020, reinforcing the site’s grim purpose. Furthermore, SJAC uncovered two intelligence datasets listing a staggering 1,154 detainees who perished at Mezzeh between 2011 and 2017. The data, leaked through a Facebook group monitored by SJAC, was meticulously cross-checked against other documents and witness statements, painting a deeply distressing portrait of systemic abuse.
What adds to the horror is the discovery of mass graves linked to Mezzeh's dark history. Reuters reporters, while unable to independently confirm the existence of the graves, observed signs of disturbed earth at multiple sites identified by SJAC. Clear evidence of long trenches dug during periods consistent with witness accounts emerged at two locations: one on Mezzeh airport property and another at a cemetery in Najha. The report describes how civilians were often hanged, while officers and soldiers faced firing squads, with many victims buried near the hangar where executions took place. These newly discovered graves, according to a colonel from the new government’s Interior Ministry, are just the beginning of uncovering the Assad regime's bloody legacy.
The Assad regime's brutal crackdown on dissent, which began in 2011, spiraled into a full-scale war, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. Human rights groups, foreign governments, and war-crimes prosecutors have long accused both Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez of orchestrating extrajudicial killings and mass executions within Syria's prison system. The SJAC report focuses on the early years of the uprising but also includes testimonies from former regime officers at Mezzeh, shedding light on abuses that persisted until Assad's fall. As these shocking revelations surface, the grim reality of Syria’s prisons continues to haunt the nation's fight for justice and accountability.
Adding an international dimension to this tragedy, the U.S. Justice Department recently unsealed war crimes charges against two senior Syrian air force intelligence officers. These charges accuse them of inflicting cruel and inhuman treatment on detainees at the Mezzeh military airport, including U.S. citizens. The move underscores the global condemnation of the Assad regime's atrocities and highlights ongoing efforts to hold those responsible accountable. As the world grapples with the horrors unveiled by the SJAC report, the call for justice grows louder, demanding accountability for the countless lives lost and shattered under Assad's brutal rule.
The discovery of these mass graves and the extensive evidence of torture at Mezzeh military airport serve as a chilling reminder of the Assad regime's reign of terror. While the new government seeks to uncover the fate of more than 100,000 missing persons from Assad's prisons, the path to justice remains long and fraught with challenges. The SJAC's findings provide a crucial step toward exposing the regime's crimes and honoring the memory of those who suffered unspeakable horrors behind the walls of Mezzeh. As Syria moves forward, the pursuit of truth and accountability stands as a beacon of hope for a nation scarred by years of relentless violence and oppression.
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