Horrifying ‘Saydnaya Prison’: From a Syrian Slaughterhouse to a Symbol of Freedom

Syrians say that if the raid and liberation of Saydnaya prison, freeing thousands of detainees, were the only victory of the Syrian revolution after 61 years of gangs’ rule, it would be enough.

They believe it compensates for the thousands of Syrians who perished in this slaughterhouse, had their dignity violated, or were left to decompose in salt rooms, some never even knowing that Hafez al-Assad had died.

While the world awaited news of Bashar al-Assad’s escape or death, thousands of Syrians eagerly hoped for one thing: the liberation of Saydnaya and the release of all detainees. They knew that this prison epitomized Syria’s history of oppression.

Saydnaya was a demonic creation of Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar, equipped with torture tools so horrific they seemed unimaginable, used by the Assad regime to torment and suppress Syrians.

What Did They Find Inside the Slaughterhouse?

When revolutionaries took control of Syria’s notorious Saydnaya prison, dubbed the “Bastille of Syria,” they uncovered not only the dark truth behind its terrifying reputation but also the sadistic tools used by inhumane guards to torture detainees.

The initial moments of the opposition's entry into the prison, especially Saydnaya, were harrowing, revealing the extent of suffering within. Many inmates had lost their memories from prolonged torture.

The victims were confined in small, iron-barred cells, enduring cold, hunger, and appalling conditions, with no idea of what was happening outside. When the revolutionaries informed them of their freedom, they could hardly believe it.

The scenes of detainees were heartbreaking—women with frozen tears, babies in cells, men so disoriented that they had lost their memory, while others awaited their executions or the next round of torture.

The stench of death overwhelmed the air in the underground cells, where victims were placed in salt rooms to decompose or subjected to gas chambers and barbaric torture devices.

One young man, now a living skeleton, wrapped in a tattered blanket, trembled as he swore that he was scheduled for execution along with 54 others just half an hour after being freed from his cell.

“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. As many as 13,000 people have been killed in Saydnaya since 2011, in utmost secrecy. Many other people at Saydnaya have been killed after being repeatedly tortured and systematically deprived of food, water, medicine and medical care,” Amnesty International reported in August 2016.

The bodies of the executed were thrown into trucks and buried in mass graves. Between 2018 and 2021, the regime is believed to have executed at least 500 more detainees, according to testimonies from survivors.

In one disturbing moment, a young man, barely conscious, wrapped in a torn blanket, could not even recall his name or the reason for his imprisonment due to the torture.

The liberation of women from Saydnaya was a terrifying moment—they couldn’t understand why they had been imprisoned, tortured, and violated. They were unable to grasp that they were finally free after years of complete isolation from the outside world. Some ran out in disbelief, while others emerged with their young children, having witnessed the brutal treatment Syrian women endured in these prisons.

One notable figure freed was pilot Ragheed al-Tatari, who had defied Assad's orders to bomb Hama in 1982. Arrested by the regime, he was imprisoned without trial for 43 years before being released from Tartous Central Prison.

The Red Section and the Iron Execution Press

The so-called “Red Section” beneath Saydnaya prison marked a historical event, as over 10,000 Syrians gathered around the infamous prison, hoping to see their loved ones released from what many referred to as a grave.

When the gates to the “Red Section” were opened, the reality was even more tragic. The section, reserved for Islamists, extended across three underground levels. Detainees had been completely cut off from the world for years, unaware of the outside.

The “Red Section” was so heavily fortified that it took several hours to open, requiring the use of explosives and tools, as it was locked with electronic codes known only to the officers who had since fled. It resembled a sealed tomb.

The most horrifying discovery was the Iron Execution Press, a machine designed to crush the bodies of executed detainees into a flat, paper-like shape. After hanging a detainee, the body was placed into the press, where it was squeezed and crushed, and the blood drained into channels below.

The remains were then gathered in plastic bags and discarded. For the Assad regime, this was the “technical” solution to disposing of bodies, a cold, efficient method to manage what they saw as “waste.”

Survivors who witnessed the Iron Execution Press described it as a grotesque and mechanical process, where human bodies were reduced to pulp, making it easier for the regime to eliminate any trace of the victims.

A History of Brutality

During their operations to free Syrian cities from Assad's grip, the revolutionary factions stormed numerous prisons, releasing thousands of innocents arrested by Assad's regime over decades. Some of these detainees had been imprisoned for over 50 years.

The revolutionaries opened the central prisons in Hama, Homs, Saydnaya, and Adra in the Damascus countryside to all detainees. They also freed hundreds of detainees from the Political Security Branch on the outskirts of Hama city.

Although nearly 160,000 detainees have been released up until the time of this report, many remain behind bars in other detention centers. The sheer number of detainees and the complex, sprawling layout of some prisons, especially Saydnaya, make it difficult to release them all.

The most notorious of these prisons is Saydnaya, located in the Damascus countryside. It has been the site of torture and death for men, women, and even children, and contains dozens of buildings, rooms, and underground structures.

The danger of Saydnaya lies in its reputation as one of the “most secretive places in the world.” Its name strikes fear in the hearts of Syrians, associated with the disappearance of loved ones, leaving deep scars in the collective memory of the community, as reported by the Association of Detainees and the Missing Persons in Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP).

Human rights organizations claim that the goal of the torture and beatings at Saydnaya is death itself.

ADMSP founder Diab Serriya (a former detainee) said the Syrian regime wanted Saydnaya to be a black hole, swallowing anyone who enters.

He confirmed that the prison functioned as a death camp, with a clear chain of command and a structured internal order. Over the years, horrific crimes took place within its walls, including forced disappearances, systematic torture, and murders.

Serriya stated that the authorities sought to suppress any flow of information from the prison, operating with complete impunity and no accountability for the “perpetrators.”

Since its establishment in the 1980s, Saydnaya remained a “black hole” until reports from families of detainees began to expose the horrors within. These reports, based on testimonies from those who survived the prison, detail what occurred inside and outside its walls, shedding light on its structure and its connections with other security agencies of the Syrian regime.

The human rights investigation was based on 31 interviews with former staff members of Saydnaya, defected Syrian officers who served in the prison’s security, and former detainees arrested at different times.

The investigation revealed that the outer perimeter of Saydnaya is surrounded by minefields, in addition to the internal security forces patrolling the spaces between the outer and inner walls and the buildings' gates.

The report discussed three levels of security at the prison: the first level protects the prison from external threats or any escape attempts, the second supports the first level, and the third monitors the internal prison buildings, ensuring the detainees' discipline and presence in the wings and solitary cells. The nature of security in each level varies based on the military unit responsible, whether army, military police, or military intelligence.

The second part of the investigation addressed the prison’s offices, ranging from those providing basic needs like water, food, and electricity, to those handling supplies and medical care.

One of the most severe hardships faced by detainees at Saydnaya is the possibility of being denied water and food for days, forcing them to drink their own urine, as described by one former detainee.

The detainees suffer from extreme forms of torture, including beatings with hoses, plumbing pipes, batons, and other continuous methods.

The guards use a device known as the “flying carpet” for torture, a tool involving a foldable board to which the detainee is strapped, facing upward, then manipulated to contort the body.

Detainees at Saydnaya are denied medication; women are threatened with rape in front of their relatives unless they confess to alleged crimes, Amnesty has learned. Reports of sexual violence, including rape and harassment, have been documented for both men and women.

A survivor of Saydnaya told the organization that detainees were forced to choose between their death or the execution of a relative.

In 2017, the U.S. State Department revealed that the Syrian government resorted to burning thousands of detainees at Saydnaya to hide the number of deaths and erase evidence of war crimes.

Not only did the Assad regime arrest and execute innocents, but it also looted their assets using the “assets confiscation” methods typical of oppressive regimes.

It was revealed that the Syrian government seized the property and wealth of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons from 2011 to 2021, exploiting their suffering for financial gain. Human rights organizations estimated that the value of these stolen assets reached around 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Detainees were stripped of their land, properties, and financial assets under orders from courts and decisions issued by the regime, including bank accounts, real estate, businesses, cars, jewelry, electronics, farming equipment, livestock, and poultry.

Syria's Bastille

Situated 30 kilometers north of Damascus on a hilltop away from the bustle of the city, Saydnaya Prison looms as a site infamously described as a place where you are sent to die. Spanning an area of 14 km²—equivalent to 184 football fields—it is eight times larger than the combined size of all standard international football fields in Syria.

The prison is infamous for its brutal use of torture and inhumane treatment. Following the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, it became one of the most notorious detention centers, housing hundreds of Islamists, political dissidents, and military personnel “suspected” of opposing the regime.

The Guardian described it in 2016 as “the worst place on Earth,” while the Atlantic Council quoted former detainees on July 13, 2017, saying it is “a place where you are brought to die.”

Saydnaya is among the most fortified military prisons in Syria, divided into two main sections. The first, known as the Red Building, is reserved for political and civilian detainees, particularly Islamists. The second, called the White Building, houses military detainees and ordinary civilians. Together, these sections can accommodate around 20,000 detainees, with additional annexes and secret facilities constructed to hold hundreds more.

Established in the 1980s, the prison was labeled a human slaughterhouse by Amnesty, which described it as a place where the Syrian state quietly slaughters its own people.

Strategically located near the Saidnaya Monastery, the prison is heavily fortified to prevent any breaches or attacks, although it has been accessed by the revolutionary forces.

Saydnaya’s unique architectural design enhances its security. It consists of three large buildings connected at a central point called “the gun,” making it exceptionally difficult to infiltrate. Each building has three floors, divided into two wings, with each wing containing 20 communal cells measuring 8 meters by 6 meters. These cells are aligned away from windows, and ventilation is shared among every four cells, according to Syrian human rights organizations.

The “gun” area, where the three buildings intersect, is the most secure part of the prison. It houses underground cells and solitary confinement areas, monitored round the clock to ensure detainees cannot see the layout of the facility or identify their guards.

Amnesty International has reported harrowing accounts from survivors. Daily beatings are routine, detainees endure degrading treatment, and conditions are described as unfit for human beings. Many detainees die daily due to torture, starvation, or lack of medical care.

Food and water are often withheld for extended periods, and detainees are forced to adhere to an extreme rule of absolute silence.

Survivors stated that torture is not used to extract information but to degrade human dignity, punish, and humiliate; the detainees are targeted without mercy, unable to “confess” to stop the relentless beatings.

Salt Rooms

In October 2022, ADMSP published a report that sent shockwaves globally. It revealed that Assad's regime had been using “salt rooms” in Saydnaya Prison to torture detainees and preserve the bodies of those who died through mummification in salt.

The report detailed the brutal treatment endured by detainees, with over 30,000 detainees perishing between 2011 and 2018 due to execution, torture, starvation, or lack of medical care.

For the first time, ADMSP unveiled the prison’s command hierarchy, exposing those responsible for systematic torture and mass killings, crimes amounting to genocide and crimes against humanity. It meticulously outlined the military structure, chain of command, and responsibilities within the prison—one of Syria’s most secretive facilities.

The report also provided an in-depth look at the prison's layout, defenses, administrative structure, and its ties to other state institutions. It revealed how the prison was deliberately fortified to withstand external attacks and suppress detainees within.

The so-called “salt rooms” were exposed as areas used to store the bodies of victims before their transfer to Tishreen Military Hospital. These rooms had floors covered with 20 to 30 centimeters of salt. Beyond psychological torture, they were used to preserve the corpses of detainees who died from torture or starvation.

Each body was marked with a number, placed in the salt for 48 hours, and then transported to Tishreen Military Hospital in detainee transfer vehicles. At the hospital, the bodies were examined, death certificates were issued, and they were subsequently sent to the Military Police’s prison division before burial in mass graves.

The report shed light on what it termed the “hierarchy of corpse disposal,” following executions that took place twice a week. Two methods were used to handle the deceased. According to the investigation, bodies of those executed were immediately transported to the graves in military vehicles, colloquially known as “meat trucks,” or in pickup trucks.

The second method involved handling the corpses of detainees who succumbed to torture or the lack of medical care. These bodies were stored in the salt rooms, which were established after 2011. In these rooms, each corpse was assigned a number, covered in salt, and later transferred to Tishreen Military Hospital. There, death certificates were issued, and the bodies were handed over to the Military Police's prison division.

After death certificates were issued, the remains of detainees were buried in three locations: Najha, Qatana, and al-Qutayfah. The overwhelming majority of victims were civilians who “dared” to oppose, or even think of opposing, the Syrian regime.