Assad’s fall exposed underground dungeon imprisoning thousands of Syrians

Around 30,000 inmates, including women and children, were freed on December 8, 2024. (Photo/AFP)

The dramatic but inevitable fall of the brutal dictator Bashar al Assad’s regime in Syria has led to the unveiling of many dark sites where human beings were slaughtered, tortured, raped and maimed for the past 40 years.

One of them is the notorious Sednaya prison.

On December 8, an underground dungeon within the prison premises was discovered, where thousands of people were entrapped. These individuals were condemned to rot there, but with the fall of Damascus and the end of Assad’s tyranny, efforts are underway to uncover this dark site and rescue those still trapped.

So far 30,000 inmates, including women and children, in various prisons have been freed by the armed anti-regime groups.

Many inmates had no idea what had transpired outside the prison walls. Some were unaware that Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, had died 24 years earlier, while others mistakenly believed that Saddam Hussein was still alive and responsible for their release.

Yet, a grim reality soon came to light as over 100,000 "political prisoners" of the ousted regime leader Assad remain trapped, according to BBC, citing The Damascus Countryside Governorate, unable to be freed due to a specially designed electronic locking system.

The prisoners were spotted through CCTV monitors, but reaching them was not easy.

UPDATE:

The underground ‘red’ prisons have begun to be liberated. After over 10 hours of work, they were able to open the doors. Expect many more detainees to be freed. pic.twitter.com/Be6451Wxs6
— Suhaib ???????? ???????? #DroneAssad (@proud_damascene) December 8, 2024

‘Human Slaughterhouse’

Sednaya Prison, known as the "Human Slaughterhouse," is located near Damascus, Syria’s capital, and consists of multiple floors, including several underground levels called the "red prisons."

Built-in 1987, it gained infamy as a torture centre for "political prisoners," mainly civilians and activists opposing the Assad regime.

Reports indicate these subterranean cells are in complete darkness, with minimal ventilation, and detainees are now left without food or water.

While the time is ticking for those under the ground, urgent calls for help to access the red prisons grew louder. The White Helmets, Syria’s civil defence group, responded and said they had deployed five specialised teams to Sednaya to investigate reports of hidden underground cells.

These teams include search-and-rescue experts, wall-breaching specialists, iron door-opening crews, trained dogs, and medical responders.

The group states, “The teams consist of search and rescue units, wall-breaching specialists, iron door-opening crews, trained dog units, and medical responders.”

Two teams began operating at midnight, guided by individuals familiar with the prison's layout. Other teams face delays due to poor road conditions and heavy traffic.

The Damascus Countryside Governorate has appealed to former regime soldiers and prison workers to provide codes for the electronic locks on underground doors to free prisoners, some of whom were "almost choking to death" from lack of ventilation.

The images coming out Sednaya Prison should haunt us for ages to come, thousands trapped beneath layers of structures, never seeing the light of day.

Detainees held without charge in solitary confinement, left to rot. This is the "Human Slaughterhouse" of Syria. pic.twitter.com/Q6ghSIxv49
— Rami Jarrah (@RamiJarrah) December 8, 2024

The governorate said that they have been unable to open them to free "more than 100,000 detainees who can be seen on CCTV monitors".

‘Left to rot’

Videos circulating on social media depict thousands of detainees trapped beneath layers of concrete, never seeing daylight. Activists have described these images as horrifying evidence of prisoners being held in solitary confinement, left to rot.

Efforts to free detainees continue, with authorities warning that many are "almost choking to death" due to the lack of ventilation.

The head of White Helmets tweeted at 4:37 GMT that several areas, including the kitchen and oven, had been opened, but no hidden basements or doors had been found yet.

“We are prepared for the worst but continue to search with two experienced guides,” he wrote on his social media account.

A video has been circulating online of “thousands trapped beneath layers of structures, never seeing the light of day,” where social media users say “The images coming out of Sednaya Prison should haunt us for ages to come, detainees held without charge in solitary confinement, left to rot.”

“This is the "Human Slaughterhouse" of Syria.”

People took over the internet with their shock towards the newly publicised discovered underground cells.

What happened in those cells?

Sednaya’s infamy stems from decades of human rights violations. Prisoners were subjected to severe torture, sexual assault, and denial of basic needs.

“You are tortured during the day and raped at night,” Mira, a former prisoner at Sednaya, revealed in a previous interview with TRT World.

Mira became pregnant as a result of repeated assaults by regime soldiers. “Everything inside me is dead,” she said. “I’m only living for my children—for their education, health, and future.”

Many children born in captivity, products of the systemic sexual violence within the prison, had never known life outside its walls.

On Sunday, these children were freed alongside their mothers, finally experiencing a world beyond Sednaya’s horrors.

The moment Syrian opposition forces liberated women and children held by Assad’s regime in the notorious Sednaya Prison. pic.twitter.com/0evaZlVJts
— Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis) December 8, 2024

Previously speaking to TRT World, a former guardian Hamza, who worked in Saydnaya prison for a year, said, “We saw the torture and prisoners’ pain, their faces were disfigured, their backs and their bodies were bruised their footwere swollen.”

“They had to sleep standing, eat and defecate at the same place, there was no bathroom. Sometimes they even die standing,” he recalled.

He said, “Many! Many! So many died, we couldn't count them."

A 2022 report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described Sednaya as a "death camp," estimating over 30,000 detainees died between 2011 and 2018 from executions, starvation, and lack of medical care.

Amnesty International’s 2017 report labelled it a "human slaughterhouse," alleging executions were sanctioned at the highest levels of Assad’s regime—a claim the government dismissed as "baseless."

The exact number of the killings remains unknown.

Human rights groups have identified over 27 detention centres under Assad’s control where torture and killings are routine. A defector smuggled tens of thousands of photos documenting murdered detainees, revealing the extent of atrocities committed in these facilities.

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Source: TRT