Official recognition by major international bodies such as the United Nations

Rebels Topple Assad; Thousands Freed from 'Human Slaughterhouse' Sednaya Prison

Dec 10, 2024, 09:17 AM

Rebel forces have toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime over the weekend, capturing Damascus and bringing an end to the Assad family's 50-year rule. Assad has reportedly received asylum in Moscow. As the rebels swept across the country, thousands of prisoners were freed from notorious prisons, including the infamous Sednaya prison, located 30 kilometers north of Damascus. Sednaya prison, known as the 'human slaughterhouse' and a symbol of Assad's brutality, has been the site of mass torture and executions since 2011. Human rights groups estimate that between 13,000 and 30,000 people have been killed there, while reports suggest that 157,000 people have vanished in Assad's prisons, enduring up to 72 types of torture. Rescue efforts are still underway to free remaining inmates from underground cells yet to be accessed. Families of missing individuals are flocking to the prison, desperately searching for any sign of their loved ones as hope begins to fade. Bodies showing signs of torture have been discovered in Sednaya prison and at Harasta Military Hospital near Damascus, with between 40 and 50 bodies found, further exposing the regime's atrocities.