Syrians head to Saydnaya military prison in northern Damascus to search for their loved ones

(9 Dec 2024) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Northern Damascus, Syria - 9 December 2024 1. Civil defense workers digging a hole in the Saydnaya military prison floor in a search for underground hidden cells 2. Various of people looking on 3. Various of families and relatives of prisoners searching for their loved ones inside prison 4. People walking past prison cells 5. Prisoners' belongings inside cells 6. Doors of cells 7. Various of relatives and family members outside prison 8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ghazwan Hussein, relative of prisoners: "We have detainees who were taken since 2011, 2012 and 2013. We came here but we didn't find any detainees. We went inside and found refrigerators, burners, crushers, iron. They would press them and put them in the burners. There are gallows and corrosive acid. Detainees have come out after having been sprayed with bleach, they burned them (with bleach). There were women with their kids inside - that is documented in images that were aired on all news platforms. We came here last night until today, we haven't managed to see any prisoners. However, there are around 30,000 inside the prison and only 200 have been released." 9. People chanting, UPSOUND (Arabic): "We need the director of the prison" 10. Various of people inside the prison 11. Prison documents 12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Loay al-Shambari, relative of prisoners: "They are all gangsters (officers working in the prison). They are all gangsters and they will be held accountable. And all the names here (in the documents), even if they fled to China, we will find them. They must be held accountable, because now we have their names and proof (of their crimes). Saydnaya prison officers (names) were secret, meaning no one knew that a specific officer used to work here. But thank God, we now have their names from these documents and God willing, they will be held accountable even before the tyrant Bashar Assad." 13. Various of people outside prison, outer walls of prison 14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Baddar al-Ahmad, father of prisoner: "Where did they hide the prisoners? Officers and soldiers escaped, but where did they put the prisoners?" 15. Various of people outside prison STORYLINE: Thousands of Syrians headed Monday to Saydnaya military prison, just north of Damascus to search for their loved ones. Civil defense workers and teams from the White Helmets civil defense group were seen digging holes inside the prison in search for hidden cells or underground chambers. People were seen wandering inside the infamous prison, known as the "human slaughterhouse," a place that for long time horrified the Syrian people. "We have detainees who were taken since 2011, 2012 and 2013," said Ghazwan Hussein, who came looking for relatives and friends. As insurgents swept across Syria in just 10 days to bring an end to the Assad family’s 50-year rule, they broke into prisons and security facilities to free political prisoners and many of the tens of thousands of people who disappeared since the conflict began back in 2011. On Sunday, women detainees, some with their children, screamed as men broke the locks off their cell doors. Syria’s prisons have been infamous for their harsh conditions. Torture is systematic, say human rights groups, whistleblowers, and former detainees. Secret executions have been reported at more than two dozen facilities run by Syrian intelligence, as well as at other sites. AP video shot by Fay Abuelgasim and Sarah El Deeb =========================================================== Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3dcd435c8dd34f2f8c9cf62c5a604cbc