A new report by Amnesty International has revealed that the Syrian regime has gone to extrajudicial executions through "mass hanging" at Saydnaya Prison, northern city of Damascus.
According to the statement made by the organization, every week, often twice per week, between 20 and 50 people are taken from their cells to be hanged, in the middle of the night.
The rapporteur entitled "Human Slaughter: Bulk Sacks and Destruction in Saydnaya Prison in Syria" notes that the regime has been secretly hanged 13,000 mostly anti-regime civilians in Saydnaya in the past 5 years.
It is said in the report many other people at Saydnaya have been killed after being repeatedly tortured and systematically deprived of food, water, medicine and medical care.
In Amnesty International's statement, “Based on its investigation, Amnesty International’s assessment is that the murder, torture, enforced disappearances and extermination carried out at Saydnaya since 2011 have been perpetrated as part of an attack against the civilian population that has been widespread, as well as systematic, and carried out in furtherance of state policy. It therefore concludes that the Syrian authorities’ violations at Saydnaya amount to crimes against humanity.”
Every week, often twice per week, between 20 and 50 people are taken from their cells to be hanged, in the middle of the night said in the report and pointed out that there is therefore no reason to believe that executions have stopped.
Rapid findings are based on an intensive investigation that lasted from December 2015 until December 2016 for one year. During the preparation of the report, the first round of talks with former Saydnaya Prison guards, officials, detainees, judges and lawyers totally 84 witnesses, including national and international experts on detention in Syria, were held.
"The horror shown in this report and authorized by the upper levels of the Syrian government is revealing a secret, terrible campaign aimed at crushing any opposition within the Syrian population," explains Amnesty International's Beirut Regional Office, Deputy Research Director Lynn Maalouf.
Maalouf continued as follows: “We demand that the torture and inhuman treatment, extrajudicial executions be terminated immediately from Syrian authorities in Saydnaya Prison and other government prisons in Syria. Russia and Iran, the closest ally of the government, should press to put an end to these deadly detention policies."
Maalouf said, "The upcoming Syrian peace talks in Geneva cannot ignore these findings and should be on the verge of ending the brutality of the Syrian government's prisons. The UN should initiate an independent investigation into the crimes committed in Saydnaya and demand access to independent detention centers for all detention centers."
ILKHA