'I was raped by Assad's thugs - but I'm no longer afraid to show my face'

Fergal Keane speaks to two Syrian refugees he met at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewsletters'I was raped by Assad's thugs – but I'm no longer afraid to show my face'BBCRené says he is now happy to be photographed "because the republic of fear is gone"It belonged to his grandmother. Something solid. A thing to hold in his hands, and run his fingers across, and trace the path of memory. A small thing of beauty, inlaid with a delicate mosaic.

René opens the music box, and a tinkling music begins to play, the same song heard long ago in his Damascus sitting room.

"This is all I have left of my home," he says.

Everything about this young man suggests gentleness. René Shevan is short in height, slender and speaks softly.

All week his emotions have gone back and forth. Joy at the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Heartbreak at the memories it has triggered of his months in Syrian prisons.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89xgdyk597o

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