The horror of Saydnaya jail, symbol of Assad excesses

The horror of Saydnaya jail, symbol of Assad excesses
People keep warm around a fire outside the Saydnaya prison in Damascus on Dec. 11, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 13 December 2024
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The horror of Saydnaya jail, symbol of Assad excesses

The horror of Saydnaya jail, symbol of Assad excesses
  • The prison complex was the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances
  • When Syrian militants entered Damascus on Sunday after their lightning advance that toppled the Assad government, they announced they had seized Saydnaya and freed its inmates

BEIRUT: Saydnaya prison north of the Syrian capital Damascus has become a notorious symbol of the inhumane abuses of the Assad clan, especially since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011.
The prison complex was the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomising the atrocities committed against his opponents by ousted president Bashar Assad.
When Syrian militants entered Damascus on Sunday after their lightning advance that toppled the Assad government, they announced they had seized Saydnaya and freed its inmates.
Some had been incarcerated there since the 19080s.
According to the Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP), the militants liberated more than 4,000 people.
Photographs of haggard and emaciated inmates, some helped by colleagues because they were too weak to leave their cells, were circulated worldwide.
Suddenly the workings of this infamous jail that rights group Amnesty International had dubbed a “human abattoir” were revealed for all to see.
The prison was built in the 1980s during the rule of Hafez Assad, father of the deposed president, and was initially meant for political prisoners including members of Islamist groups and Kurdish militants.
But down the years, Saydnaya became a symbol of pitiless state control over the Syrian people.
In 2016, a United Nations commission found that “the Syrian Government has also committed the crimes against humanity of murder, rape or other forms of sexual violence, torture, imprisonment, enforced disappearance and other inhuman acts,” notably at Saydnaya.
The following year, Amnesty International in a report entitled “Human Slaughterhouse” documented thousands of executions there, calling it a policy of extermination.
Shortly afterwards, the United States revealed the existence inside Saydnaya of a crematorium in which the remains of thousands of murdered prisoners were burnt.
War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in 2022 reported that around 30,000 people had been imprisoned in Saydnaya where many were tortured, and that just 6,000 were released.
The ADMSP believes that more than 30,000 prisoners were executed or died under torture, or from the lack of medical care or food between 2011 and 2018.
The group says the former authorities in Syria had set up salt chambers — rooms lined with salt for use as makeshift morgues to make up for the lack of cold storage.
In 2022, the ADMSP published a report describing for the first time these makeshift morgues of salt.
It said the first such chamber dated back to 2013, one of the bloodiest years in the Syrian civil conflict.
Many inmates are officially considered to be missing, with their families never receiving death certificates unless they handed over exorbitant bribes.
After the fall of Damascus last week, thousands of relatives of the missing rushed to Saydnaya hoping they might find loved ones hidden away in underground cells.
Saydnaya is now empty, and Syria’s White Helmets emergency workers group announced the end of search operations there on Tuesday, with no more prisoners found.
Several foreigners also ended up in Syrian jails, including Jordanian Osama Bashir Hassan Al-Bataynah, who spent 38 years behind bars and was found “unconscious and suffering from memory loss,” the foreign ministry in Amman said on Tuesday.
According to the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Jordan, 236 Jordanian citizens were held in Syrian prisons, most of them in Saydnaya.
Other freed foreigners included Suheil Hamawi from Lebanon who returned home on Monday after being locked up in Syria for 33 years, and also spent time inside Saydnaya.


Israel’s failure to commit to full withdrawal contradicts promises made to Lebanon, Aoun says

Israel’s failure to commit to full withdrawal contradicts promises made to Lebanon, Aoun says
Updated 43 sec ago
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Israel’s failure to commit to full withdrawal contradicts promises made to Lebanon, Aoun says

Israel’s failure to commit to full withdrawal contradicts promises made to Lebanon, Aoun says
  • Aoun told Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles that Israel’s failure to commit to the withdrawal contradicts the promises made to Lebanon during the negotiations preceding the agreement
  • President praised the role of the Spanish battalion operating within the UNIFIL in southern Lebanon and the exceptional efforts of UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday reaffirmed Lebanon’s adherence to “the completion of Israel's withdrawal from the remaining occupied territories in the south within the 60-day deadline stipulated in the agreement reached on Nov. 27, 2024, which expires in four days.”

Aoun told Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles, during their meeting at the Presidential Palace, that “Israel’s failure to commit to the withdrawal contradicts the promises made to Lebanon during the negotiations preceding the agreement.”

This, he said, “perpetuates tension in the border villages, prevents establishing stability, delays the return of residents to their towns, and obstructs the reconstruction of what the Israeli enemy destroyed during its aggression against Lebanon.”

Aoun said he had sent several messages to force Israel to withdraw, receiving support from the international community, “which is expected to exert pressure in this regard.”

The president praised the role of “the Spanish battalion operating within the UNIFIL in southern Lebanon and the exceptional efforts of UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro, as well as the complete coordination with army units deployed in the international operations area.”

The Spanish minister underlined her country’s “support for the role Aoun is playing in Lebanon’s recovery after the difficult circumstances it has faced.”

She said: “Spain will stand by Lebanon and its people and will continue its work within the international forces,” emphasizing “the necessity of achieving the Israeli withdrawal on time to preserve stability in the south and the progress made so far.”

Robles also highlighted “Spain's collaboration with the EU to assist Lebanon in all fields.”

Meanwhile, Aoun emphasized the importance of rejecting sectarianism.

During a meeting with Sheikh Ali Qaddour, head of the Alawite Islamic Council, who came to congratulate the president, Aoun said: “Lebanon comprises various sects, and this constitutes its wealth. Each sect has its own elites, and it is essential for all groups to have representation in the government, parliament, and public administrations, similar to the representation found within the army.”

Aoun said he hoped to “form a government as soon as possible so that we can create political, economic and security stability so that citizens can live in dignity and not just in luxury.”

Aoun said: “We are at a crossroads; we can either take advantage of the current situation and rise above the trivialities of sectarian, confessional, and political matters, or we may find ourselves in a different place where the fault lies not with others, but with us for failing to fulfill our responsibilities.”

Nawaf Salam, the designated prime minister, is expected to visit Aoun to present the draft list of proposed names for the government.

Salam insists the Cabinet should consist of non-partisan and non-parliamentary figures, comprising 24 ministers.

Aoun is seeking the formation of the government before the deadline for the Israeli withdrawal, so that the new government can address the expected challenges.

Israeli forces carried out more demolition operations in the border area and bulldozed roads linking the inner neighborhoods in the town of Maroun Al-Ras.

Israeli media reported that preparations are ongoing along the border with Lebanon for the establishment of new positions for the Israeli army.

Construction teams are working to set up these new sites, which will primarily be situated between the settlements and the border fence.


After Gaza row, Berlin festival to screen Israeli hostage film

After Gaza row, Berlin festival to screen Israeli hostage film
Updated 25 min 33 sec ago
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After Gaza row, Berlin festival to screen Israeli hostage film

After Gaza row, Berlin festival to screen Israeli hostage film
  • The Berlin awards ceremony last year saw several filmmakers criticize Israel’s military campaign in Gaza
  • Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra said the local population was being “massacred” by Israel, to applause from the audience

BERLIN: The Berlin Film Festival is set to screen a documentary about an Israeli actor taken hostage by Hamas, organizers said Tuesday, as it looks to move on from a row about alleged anti-Semitism at last year’s edition.
The documentary called “A Letter to David” by Israeli director Tom Shoval recalls his friendship and work with David Cunio who was abducted from his home in a Kibbutz on October 7, 2023.aThe film is a “tender and deeply personal lament” from Shoval, programming co-director Michael Stutz told reporters at a press conference ahead of the February 13-23 festival.
Cunio’s fate remains unknown, with hopes raised by a recent ceasefire agreement that will see Hamas return its captives and Israel release Palestinian prisoners from jails.
The Berlin awards ceremony last year saw several filmmakers criticize Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has now killed around 47,000 people and wounded 110,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
US filmmaker Ben Russell, wearing a Palestinian scarf, accused Israel of committing “genocide” with its bombardment of the densely populated territory.
Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra said the local population was being “massacred” by Israel, to applause from the audience.
A spokeswoman for the German government, a staunch ally of Israel, said it was “unacceptable” that the Hamas attack on Israel which triggered the war had not been mentioned at the ceremony.
Berlin’s mayor Kai Wegner called the remarks “unacceptable” and said that there was “no place for anti-Semitism in Berlin.”
Wegner also said that he expected new festival director Tricia Tuttle to “ensure such incidents do not happen again.”
Tuttle said last month that the furor had put some film directors off the festival because of free speech concerns.
“Lots of filmmakers from Arab countries have approached us as well over the last weeks, just to make sure the festival is a space for open dialogue and discourse,” she added on Tuesday.
“Where we can, we like to have individual conversations, and we’d encourage filmmakers to come to us to talk to us about this.”
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, famed for his 2019 prize-winner “Parasite,” is set to present his new film “Mickey 17” out of competition in Berlin.
The festival has also announced that it will give a lifetime achievement award to British actor Tilda Swinton, who has collaborated with Bong in the past.
Tuttle unveiled the full line up of films for its main competition, which includes work from American director Richard Linklater, South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo, Mexico’s Michel Franco and Radu Jude from Romania.
Linklater is returning for the first time since 2014 when he won a director’s silver bear, the second-highest award, for his epic “Boyhood” that was filmed over more than decade.


UAE’s president receives Afghanistan’s minister of interior in Abu Dhabi

UAE’s president receives Afghanistan’s minister of interior in Abu Dhabi
Updated 41 min 40 sec ago
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UAE’s president receives Afghanistan’s minister of interior in Abu Dhabi

UAE’s president receives Afghanistan’s minister of interior in Abu Dhabi
  • Sirajuddin Haqqani commends UAE’s humanitarian assistance to Afghan people

LONDON: President of the UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan received Afghanistan’s Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani on Tuesday at Qasr Al-Shati in Abu Dhabi.

The parties discussed recent news in Afghanistan and ways to enhance bilateral cooperation, particularly in development.

They looked at efforts to support Afghanistan’s stability and promote prosperity for its people.

Haqqani praised the level of cooperation between Abu Dhabi and Kabul and commended the UAE’s humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, the Emirates News Agency reported.


Yemen’s Houthis say to limit attacks to Israel-linked ships during truce

Yemen’s Houthis say to limit attacks to Israel-linked ships during truce
Updated 21 January 2025
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Yemen’s Houthis say to limit attacks to Israel-linked ships during truce

Yemen’s Houthis say to limit attacks to Israel-linked ships during truce
  • “We have informed international shipping companies that our military operations will focus solely on vessels linked to” Israel during the truce, said a Houthi official
  • Their campaign has severely disrupted trade routes

SANAA: Yemen’s Houthi militants said Tuesday they would limit their Red Sea attacks to vessels linked to Israel during the ceasefire in the Gaza war.
The Houthis have been attacking shipping in the vital waterway in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians since November 2023, weeks after Hamas carried out the deadliest attack in Israeli history.
“We have informed international shipping companies that our military operations will focus solely on vessels linked to” Israel during the truce, a Houthi official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Part of Iran’s “axis of resistance,” the Houthis have also repeatedly launched missile and drone attacks on Israel since the war in Gaza began with Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Among the vessels targeted in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden were ones the militants believed were linked to Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Their campaign has severely disrupted trade routes, prompting the United States and its allies to conduct strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The Houthi official also said his movement would halt its attacks against Israeli-linked vessels once every phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was implemented.
The Israel-Hamas deal, announced last week by mediators Qatar and the United States, should see 33 Israeli hostages freed in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners in an initial 42-day phase.
A second, unfinalized phase of the agreement should see negotiations for a permanent end to the war.
The third and final phase would deal with the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the remains of hostages who died in captivity.
On Sunday, the Houthis claimed an attack on an American aircraft carrier and warned of “consequences” for any retaliation during the ceasefire.
The US military, however, dismissed the attack claims as being part of a Houthi “disinformation campaign.”


Israeli army chief of staff submits resignation over Hamas’ Oct 7 attack

Israeli army chief of staff submits resignation over Hamas’ Oct 7 attack
Updated 21 January 2025
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Israeli army chief of staff submits resignation over Hamas’ Oct 7 attack

Israeli army chief of staff submits resignation over Hamas’ Oct 7 attack
  • Halevi, in a letter to Israel’s defense minister, had widely been expected to step down

JERUSALEM: Israel’s army chief Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday he would resign on March 6, taking responsibility for the massive security lapse on Oct. 7, 2023 when Palestinian Hamas gunmen from Gaza carried out a cross-border attack on Israel.
Halevi, in a letter to Israel’s defense minister, had widely been expected to step down. He said he would complete the Israel Defense Forces’ inquiries into Oct. 7 and strengthen the IDF’s readiness for security challenges.
“I will transfer command of the IDF in a high-quality and thorough manner to my successor,” wrote Halevi, Chief of the General Staff of Israel’s armed forces.