Image Source: CNN
Syria – The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has revealed the horrific realities of Syria’s prison system, leaving survivors and families to confront the devastating legacy of facilities infamous for oppressing the Syrian people, with Saydnaya prison standing out as a stark symbol of the regime’s brutal repression.
Jabar Baker, a Syrian novelist and researcher, endured two harrowing years in Saydnaya. His firsthand account reveals the physical and emotional scars inflicted by a system designed to strip away humanity.
Within these prisons, detainees endured relentless torture, starvation, and squalid conditions. Many lost their lives, while others were executed without trial. Families often spent decades searching for answers, only to discover their loved ones buried in mass graves.
“We are in the freedom moment. When someone asks me about the prison and my personal experience because I spent two years in the prison in Saydnaya, all the time I say, I [got released] from the prison, but the prison is still [inside me]. After the eighth of December this year, the prison [will go out] from inside, and the prison [will be history].”
Despite extensive research, Baker expressed shock at recent revelations about Saydnaya. He emphasised that detailed investigations are vital for Syrians to understand the scale of the atrocities committed fully and to begin healing.
“Even if you know this place very well, I know it very well because I did around 120 interviews with different people from various prisons. Even with all [this information and the database I have, we need more years to study the prison, understand the situation, and build our narrative about it]. The narrative is a [crucial] part of justice.”
The Psychological Impact on Survivors
As rebel forces liberate prisoners from the regime’s detention centres, survivors face the immense challenge of reintegration into society. The psychological toll of their imprisonment runs deep, leaving many haunted by their experiences and burdened by societal stigma.
This stigma stems from disbelief and misconceptions about their imprisonment as society struggles to comprehend the arbitrary and brutal nature of the regime’s actions.
“[When you are a Syrian in the street and someone from the Syrian regime arrested you without any reason and put you in any intelligence branch, torture you for a long time and try to build a story]. It’s a fake story about your work, about your opinion against Bashar Assad, or working with the revolutionary people and trying to be a military man.
“It makes you like, I’m sorry, this is not my story, it’s not my opinion. Yes, I need my freedom, but I’m not a criminal. I’m a human being. [I’m trying to be a good guy for this country]. [Then they put you in prison for a long time, torture you without any reason and in this kind of situation, you will lose your mind].”
To aid these individuals in reintegration, Baker stressed that societal healing must begin by accepting their stories and recognising their humanity. Accountability and public confessions from perpetrators are critical steps in pursuing justice.
“If you try to reintegrate these people [in a psychological way with society, you need to accept their story, announce their story for other people, and they need to listen from the jailer and the perpetrator]. [The confession ‘we did this and we do this’ is a part of the treatment]. [It’s a part of the justice journey, and in this way, we can reintegrate the people inside society].”
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Preserving Prison Sites
Despite the recent fall of Assad’s regime, Baker believes that preserving sites like Saydnaya as memorials is essential for confronting Syria’s dark history. He compared this effort to South Africa’s Robben Island, advocating for these locations to serve as reminders of the atrocities committed and as symbols of resilience.
“[We need in this time to preserve these places to make it like a monument for our story for our history, because we don’t need this kind of replaying against the Syrian people]. We don’t need to rebuild Saydnaya as a prison; we need to rebuild Saydnaya as a museum.”
“[We need to rebuild Tadmur prison as a museum, even the other intelligence branches in Syria]. But I would like to say [for the Syrian prisoners at this time, feel freedom, feel liberation, because you are alive again, and you have a new life].”
