Freed Syrian prisoners return to their 'death dormitory'

Freed prisoners Basim Faiz Mawat and Mohammed Hanania revisit the brutal Damascus prison, recalling horrific conditions

Basim Faiz Mawat stood in the same Damascus prison cell that had earned the nickname "death dormitory," struggling to comprehend that the brutal system that had tormented him for so long had finally been toppled. The 48-year-old, freed along with fellow prisoner Mohammed Hanania, visited the detention center on Sunday, where they had once suffered under merciless guards.

Blankets and food from the last days of incarceration of prisoners lie in one cell room at underground prison "Branch 215" which was operated by Syrian Military Intelligence, after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria (REUTERS)

“I came here today only to see that truly nothing lasts forever,” Mawat said, reflecting on the end of a dark chapter in Syria's history. Mawat and Hanania were among the thousands of detainees freed after a rapid rebel advance ousted President Bashar al-Assad, ending over five decades of his family's rule. Many prisoners, once presumed dead by their families, were reunited with tearful relatives who had believed them executed years earlier.

Hanania, 35, recalled the horrors he endured in the so-called "Steel 1 - death dormitory," where death was a constant presence. “Every day in this room, one to three people would die inside,” Hanania told Reuters. “When the sergeant didn’t lose someone to weakness, he would kill them himself. He would take them to the toilets and hit them on the head with the heel of his shoe.”

As the two men walked through the prison, they passed long rows of empty cells marked by the names of prisoners like Mohammed al-Masry and Ahmed, etched into the walls along with dates. The floors were scattered with rubble and discarded clothing, remnants of the brutal conditions that had defined their imprisonment. In one cell, a row of blankets remained where prisoners had once slept.

Both men paused before a wall bearing an image of Bashar al-Assad, the man accused of overseeing widespread torture and executions throughout his rule, a practice that had also flourished under his father, Hafez al-Assad.

“No one could have believed this would happen,” Mawat said, standing in disbelief at the prison's downfall.

Torture and Mass Executions

In another part of the prison, Mawat described an excruciating torture method. He recounted how he was blindfolded, forced to climb a rusty blue ladder, and then suspended by his arms from the ceiling after his captors kicked the ladder away. “My shoulders were torn, and I couldn’t say a single word. No one could bear more than five or ten minutes,” he said, recalling the indescribable pain.

Rights organizations have documented mass executions in Syria's prisons, with the U.S. government confirming the existence of a crematorium at the Sednaya military prison, allegedly used to dispose of the bodies of executed prisoners.

As Syrians have flocked to the country’s prisons, searching for their loved ones, some have been freed alive, others identified as deceased, while thousands remain unaccounted for. Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who played a key role in the rebellion against Assad, has vowed to close the prisons and hold accountable those responsible for the torture and deaths of detainees.

Assad has since fled to Russia, where he was granted asylum.

Despite the trauma they endured, Hanania urged caution in seeking revenge. “At this stage, if everyone thinks about taking revenge, we have no solution other than to forgive,” he said. “But the criminal who has blood on their hands should be held accountable. I will leave my rights to be granted by God.”