Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

March 11, 2025

Syria: Hanin Gebran, released from al-Assad’s jails, “The conditions in which journalists were held were horrible, and much worse for a woman”

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Crises Women Middle East Health Mental health Material conditions Torture Violence Work Syria

Syrian journalist Hanin Gebran details the horrific conditions she endured in Assad’s prisons, shedding light on the gendered violence and torture faced by women journalists under the regime.

January 18, 2025

Syria: the syrian prison, bureaucracy of death, marketplace of extortion

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Crises Middle East Material conditions Facilities Overcrowding Death penalty Torture Social ties Syria

From the Raid Department that falls under the Military Security’s Branch 215—commonly referred to as the “Branch of Death”— Asharq Al-Awsat began its tour of the prisons of the ousted Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

January 17, 2025

Syria: prison walls reveal last messages of Assad's imprisoned people

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Crises Middle East Death penalty Torture Religion Syria

Inside Syria’s infamous prisons once controlled by Bashar al-Assad, haunting graffiti etched by tormented imprisoned people bears witness to their anguish, defiance, and love.

December 9, 2024

Syria: reports of people trapped underground at notorious prison

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Crises Women Minors Middle East Facilities Death penalty Torture Violence Social ties Syria

The Syrian civil defence group known as the White Helmets says it is investigating reports from survivors of the country’s notorious Saydnaya prison that people are being detained in hidden underground cells.

March 26, 2024

Syria: nationals missing, dying from torture in jihadist-run prisons

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Middle East Torture Violence Syria

Ahmed al-Hakim’s 27-year-old brother was tortured to death in prison in Syria’s jihadist-run northwest, sparking rare protests amid accusations from residents and activists of rights violations in the opposition bastion.

November 19, 2023

Syria: International Court of Justice rules against the country in torture case

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Middle East Justice Torture Syria

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) order on November 16, 2023, directing Syria to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of torture and other abuses is a milestone toward protecting civilians in the country, Human Rights Watch said.

September 29, 2023

Syria: desperately searching for missing prisoners

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Middle East Justice Syria

Thousands of people have “vanished” inside Syria’s prison system over more than a decade of civil conflict. Their families are left in a desperate situation, forced to pay out large sums of money to middlemen, government and security officials for any information about their loved ones - often with…

February 8, 2023

Syria: Members of ISIS escape ‘Black Prison’ after earthquake devastates area

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Middle East Facilities Syria

Some twenty former members of ISIS have escaped a prison located in Rajo in northeastern Syria after powerful earthquakes devastated the region and neighbouring Turkey.

September 5, 2022

Syrie : des experts de l'ONU consternés par la mort d'un jeune australien dans un centre de détention

News

Minors Middle East Syria

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

May 19, 2022

Syria : Families wait desperately for loved ones' release after prison amnesty

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Middle East Social ties Syria

Hundreds reportedly released from Syria’s notorious prisons, but many thousands remain locked away

February 21, 2022

Syrie : une dizaine de mineurs français dans la prison attaquée par l’EI

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Minors Middle East Syria

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

January 24, 2022

Syrie : Des djihadistes s’évadent après l’attaque d’une prison par l’organisation Etat islamique

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Middle East Syria

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

January 6, 2022

Syrie : le “piano” de la mort de la prison de Palmyre

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Middle East Death penalty Torture Syria

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

September 6, 2021

Syria: young man from eastern Ghouta dies in regime prison, after three years of detention

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Middle East Material conditions Torture Violence Syria

Sources have reported that a young man from Arbin city in eastern Ghouta in Rif Dimashq died under torture in Sednaya military prison, known as the “Slaughterhouse”, after he was detained for nearly three years.

August 5, 2021

Syria: US imposes sanctions on Syrian prisons

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Middle East Torture Violence Syria

The US Treasury Department said on Wednesday it had imposed sanctions on eight Syrian prisons run by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s intelligence apparatus and five senior officials who control the sites, where human rights abuses have taken place.

July 1, 2021

Syrie : les prisonniers du régime, un business juteux pour les escrocs, face à des familles désespérées

News

Middle East Health Death penalty Torture Violence Syria

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

March 1, 2021

Syria: the greater jail, the politics of prison

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Culture Middle East Facilities Syria

In a talk co-organized by the assassinated activist Lokman Slim, former Syrian political prisoner Yassin al-Haj Saleh argues that “the politics of prison” are central to understanding the “politicide” of the Syrian people at the Assad regime’s hands.

May 4, 2020

Syria: prisoner from eastern Ghouta dies under torture in Sednaya prison

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Middle East Torture Syria

Syrian Observatory activists have documented the death of a civilian from Saqba city in eastern Ghouta, seven years after being arrested at a security checkpoint in Damascus. The victim died under torture in Sednaya prison (known as the Slaughterhouse). With the death of more civilians, the number…

January 15, 2020

Syria: "On dort l'un sur l'autre" : plongée au cœur d'une prison de jihadistes au Kurdistan syrien (vidéo)

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Middle East Overcrowding Syria

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

November 4, 2019

Jihadistes détenus en Syrie : "Au lieu d'organiser une justice, on met ce problème dans un étouffoir"

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Middle East Syria

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

October 29, 2019

Syria: bursting at the seams: inside an IS prison

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Middle East Syria

Hasakeh province (Syria) (AFP) - Behind the steel door, the cell is as packed as their eyes are empty – haggard, scrawny prisoners in orange jumpsuits lying head-to-toe cover every inch of floor space.

October 29, 2019

Syria: cómo es la prisión kurda donde están encerrados miles de terroristas del Estado Islámico

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Middle East Discipline Material conditions Protest Religion Syria

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

October 8, 2019

Syria: boys, men held in inhumane conditions

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Middle East Torture Syria

A Kurdish-led armed group backed by the United States-led coalition against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) is detaining thousands of Syrian and foreign men and boys in severely overcrowded informal detention centers in northeast Syria, Human Rights Watch said today.

June 27, 2019

Syria: woman recalls regime torture, condition of women in prisons

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Women Middle East Material conditions Torture Syria

Thousands of women across Syria have been subjected to torture under the custody of the Syrian regime, while about 128,000 civilians remain in detention.