2024-12-21
23 分钟It has been two weeks since the fall of the Assad regime and the horror of the brutal and corrupt system he oversaw has been laid bare. Since the start of the civil war in 2011, it is estimated that 100,000 people – men, women and children – disappeared without trace into Assad’s prison system. Omar was 15 years old when he was taken from his home to be starved and tortured in the notorious Saydnaya prison near Damascus. He tells Mark Lowen that he can never forgive his captors. After rebel forces released prisoners, families across the country have been able to celebrate the return of loved ones. Meanwhile, others try to discover if their loved ones are still alive. Maan in Damascus, whose older brother Muneer was arrested in 2014, and Hiba, whose father was arrested in Aleppo in 2011, share their experiences.
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Hello, I'm Luke Jones from the BBC World Service.
This is BBC Os conversations today with Syrian prisoners and their families.
When Assad's regime fell, there was a defining moment when rebels freed inmates from Syria's prisons.
Now we're getting a sense of just how terrible those places were, centers for torture, starvation, murder.
In our conversations, we'll hear from two survivors and bring together families whose loved ones were arrested.
They just came and took him from his office in the morning and we didn't know anything about him, if he's alive or dead, for three years.
During his visit earlier this week to Sadnaya Prison near Damascus, the BBC's international editor, Jeremy Bowen described it as the dark and rotten heart of the Assad regime.
Since the civil war started in the country in 2011, it's estimated that some 30,000 people were killed in that one prison.
We may never know what happened to many of the hundred thousand people, men, women and even children, who disappeared into the prison system under Assad's rule, many of them for simply expressing their opposition to the regime.
I should say that before we hear our conversations, you might find some of the stories and experiences our guests share upsetting.
Our first conversation is with two people who were detained in Syria.