
‘Woman searching through cells at Sednaya Prison.’ The prison has been opened to the public. Photo: Telegram via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Saydnaya Prison, a notorious detention facility located just outside of Damascus, Syria, has become a symbol of human rights abuses and the horrors of Syria's ongoing civil war. For years, it has been a place where thousands of Syrians, from political dissidents to ordinary civilians, have faced unimaginable torture, inhumane treatment, and death. Prisoners who survived often tell stories of resilience and survival, each uniquely painful, each equally compelling. Here are four such stories that shed light on the terrifying realities of life within the walls of Saydnaya.
The blind sniper
One of the strangest stories to emerge from Saydnaya Prison is that of the blind sniper: a civilian swept into the prison system due to tenuous connections with an anti-regime group.
In an interview with Al-Marsad Newspaper, a former Syrian prisoner recounted the tale of a blind man detained in Saydnaya Prison, on charges of being “a sniper for the opposition.”
“We were in prison, and suddenly they opened the door and brought in a blind man,” the former prisoner recalls in the interview. “We spoke to him and asked if he had been taken to the judge. He told us, ‘When I went before the judge, he asked me when I had lost my sight. I told him I was born blind. The judge replied: “It’s written in your charge that you’re a sniper. I can’t do anything for you. Go with God.”’”
The blind prisoner, originally from Aleppo, endured severe suffering during his time in Saydnaya. According to the former detainee, many prisoners from Aleppo who were incarcerated between 2016 and 2017 faced extreme hardships, with most dying in the notorious prison.
Below is the interview video posted on X by the user @hamza7674522671
— حمزة (@hamza7674522671) December 14, 2024
The salt rooms
One of the most grotesque practices at Saydnaya was the use of “salt rooms” — halls for storing corpses that the regime began using during the years of conflict after 2011, with the increasing number of deaths inside the prison. Some of the testimonies of former detainees were published by Agence France-Presse in 2022. The Association of Detainees and the Missing in Saydnaya Prison says that the prison administration resorted to the salt rooms because there are not enough refrigerators to store the bodies of detainees who die there almost daily from torture.
Here is a video by TRT World about the salt rooms in Saydnaya prison.
Prisoners who were not executed but merely left in these rooms often had to bear witness in silence as the remains of their fellow detainees deteriorated. The practice was aimed not only at preserving the bodies but also at crushing the souls of the living, ensuring they understood the fate awaiting them.
In additional research and interviews with former inmates, AFP found that at least two such salt rooms were created inside Saydnaya.
For one man, this experience became a constant reminder of the cruelty of the regime. He would recount how he and other prisoners would stare at the preserved bodies, knowing that at any moment, they could be the next to be mummified in the salt. It was a horrific form of psychological warfare — the salt rooms were not just a way of preserving bodies; they were a manifestation of the regime's utter disregard for human life.
Mazen Hamada: The forgotten activist
Mazen al-Hamada’s story is one of sacrifice and activism in the face of brutal oppression. A former student and an outspoken critic of the regime, Mazen became one of the many Syrians detained under suspicion of being a dissenter. His story, however, is one that exemplifies the many ways the Syrian government sought to crush any opposition.
The 46-year-old activist from Deir ez-Zor was imprisoned and tortured for more than a year and a half for participating in anti-government protests. After being exiled from Syria, he became an asylum seeker in the Netherlands, where he publicly testified to the abuse he suffered. In 2020, Hamada became the victim of enforced disappearance when he was arrested by Syrian intelligence at the airport upon his return to Syria.
A video from TRT World about the case of Mazen Al Hamada as part of a series of videos titled “Horrors of Syrian Prisons.
Yet despite the torture, the beatings, and the fear of execution, Mazen’s spirit remained unbroken. His resilience became a symbol of the Syrian people’s collective will to resist oppression. He even wrote secret notes of encouragement, passed along by other prisoners, reminding them that their cause was just and that they must survive to one day fight again.
His body was found in Saydnaya Prison on December 8, 2024, during the fall of the Assad regime. His funeral, held on December 12, was attended by thousands of Syrians; he has since been hailed as a martyr and a symbol of the Syrian opposition.
‘I lost my kidney’
One of the more surreal stories of Saydnaya is that of a Christian official who was arrested after being accused of dissent. His story was published by Lebanese Aljadeed TV.
In the interview, George Elias Nader, a reserve officer, explains how he was imprisoned after refusing to follow orders to fire on peaceful demonstrators, including children in Hama. He explains that he could not bring himself to harm innocent civilians, particularly children, which led to accusations of treason and anti-government sympathies. Arrested and taken to a military branch, George endured a year of relentless torture and neglect, both physically and mentally. He describes being beaten, having his teeth pulled, and living in an environment where prisoners were treated as expendable tools. Despite his suffering, he was given no explanation for his imprisonment or the brutal treatment he faced.
During his captivity, George was subjected to deceptive medical procedures. A doctor claimed he needed a health check, and after being taken to a facility, he was injected with an unknown substance. When he regained consciousness, he realized he had undergone surgery and discovered that one of his kidneys had been removed without his consent. The aftermath of the operation left him in immense pain and further compounded the physical and emotional toll of his imprisonment. He notes that in the eyes of the regime, prisoners like him—regardless of faith or identity—were seen as less than human, mere victims of a brutal system.
Here is an interview of George Elias Nader by Al Jadeed News.
Saydnaya Prison is a place of unimaginable suffering, where countless individuals have endured torture, humiliation, and death. Yet, the stories of survival and resilience are just as powerful as the horrors that occurred within its walls. Each of these individuals, among other untold stories, represents the unbreakable will of those who refused to be silenced by the regime. Their stories are the stories of Syria’s struggle for freedom and justice.