Syria's celebrations muted by evidence of torture in Assad's notorious prisons
In Syria's capital Damascus the hope of a country freed from its longtime dictator Bashar al Assad was starting to fade at the city's Saydnaya military prison.
DAMASCUS, Syria — In the outskirts of Syria’s capital Tuesday, the hope of a country freed from its longtime dictator was muddled with the emerging horrors of the Assad regime.
Thousands of people were rushing to labyrinthine prisons, searching for any trace of loved ones they feared had disappeared into their unseen depths.
The most notorious gulag lies in the barren, rocky hills outside the capital, Damascus. Saydnaya military prison is a dungeon of tiny, concrete cells nicknamed “the human slaughterhouse.” NBC News went there Tuesday and found evidence of barbaric conditions — as well as the desperation of Syrians searching for their loved ones.
During the Assad family’s 50-year rule, a network of facilities like Saydnaya were patrolled by armed guards, ensuring those who went in could not come out. The regime used the prisons to detain, torture and kill tens of thousands of Syrians, some for criticizing the government or other trumped-up allegations, according to rights groups, whistleblowers and global officials.
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