DAILY MAIL | Published December 9, 2024
An ‘iron press’ that was allegedly used to crush and execute prisoners in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s infamous Saydnaya Prison has been revealed in new videos shared by rebels as they liberate inmates.
The notorious prison near Damascus – nicknamed the ‘Human Slaughterhouse’ – is synonymous with heinous torture, executions and human rights abuses carried out by the Assad regime, which was toppled by Syrian rebel forces this weekend.
Amnesty International claims dozens of people were secretly executed every week in Saydnaya, estimating that up to 13,000 Syrians were killed between 2011 and 2016.
Footage of what appears to be some kind of large hydraulic press within the prison is yet to be verified, but tales of torture, deprivation, starvation and executions at Saydnaya have been widely documented.
Syrian rebels are now locked in a race against time to free thousands of prisoners who are reportedly trapped in secret cells buried deep beneath the jail.
Although many of its inhabitants have already been freed by the rebels, thousands more are said to be locked in sealed cells several stories below the main prison building.
These levels are locked by special mechanisms with electronic keypads and are reportedly accessible only by a labyrinth of tunnels.
The Damascus Countryside Governorate claims the prisoners can be seen on CCTV, but there are fears they could soon ‘choke to death’ if the cells are unventilated.
The authorities gave a figure of 100,000 trapped beneath the prison, though this number has not been verified.
Syria’s ‘White Helmets’ civil defence group declared on X it has deployed ‘specialised emergency teams’ who are being helped by a guide familiar with the prison’s layout to aid the rebels in freeing the detainees.
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
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White Helmets group says search teams investigating hidden underground cells holding detainees
INDEPENDENT | Published December 9, 2024
The Assad regime’s brutal half-century-long grip on Syria has come to an end, in a stunning defeat by opposition insurgents who seized control of Damascus on Sunday after more than 13 years of civil war.
Russia, one of the Assad regime’s key allies, is now scrambling to ensure the security of its military bases in Syria, saying it is “premature” to discuss what the future holds.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “everything is being done” to try and “deal with security”, adding that the Russian military is “taking all necessary precautions”.
A Russian lawmaker said today that Putin’s regime would respond harshley if Russia’s bases in Syria are attacked.
Earlier today, Israel confirmed it had struck suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets in Syria in order to prevent them falling into the hands of hostile actors.
“The only interest we have is the security of Israel and its citizens,” Israeli foreign mininster Gideon Saar said.
Meanwhile, the Syrian White Helmets said is investigating reports of prisoners trapped in hidden underground cells in the notorious Saydnaya. There is so far “no evidence confirming the presence of detainees in the basements or cellars of the prison”, it said.
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SOURCE: www.independent.co.uk
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