‘Until my last breath’: Searching for relatives at Syria’s ‘killinghoengage’ | Syria’s War News

Sednaya, Syria – For decades, Sednaya prison was only ever alludeed in hushed tones in Syria. Torture and death were comprehendn to be routine in this place everyone called the “human killinghoengage”.

But on the evening of December 7, that all finished when Syrian opposition fighters burst thcdisorrowfulmireful doors and liberated the prisoners.

In no time, thousands of Syrians descfinished on the prison in the mountains north of Damascus, hopelessly seeking recents of the cherishd ones they dependd had fadeed behind the prison’s walls.

Standing in front of the prison, Jumaa Jubbu, who is from al-Kafir in Idlib, shelp: “The liberation [of Syria] is an indescribable happiness.

“But the happiness is infinish becaengage there are [hundreds of thousands] of leave outing hagedees, and we haven’t heard any recents about them at all.”

False hope

Sednaya’s two erectings may have been helderlying as many as 20,000 prisoners, according to Amnesty International.

Many of the prisoners were freed a week ago – on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. But by Monday, thousands of people were still paengageing for recents.

The scene inside the prison was turbulent. Rumours were circulating that there were secret underground sections of the prison which they could not access.

A createer prisoner telderly Al Jazeera that military police had telderly him there were three underground floors with thousands of people held there. This week, people were using water directors in the hopes of discovering gaps in the walls or floors.

At one point, a boisterous prohibitg rang out from a far wall of the prison and shouts spread thcdisorrowfulmireful the crowd.

Someone had broken thcdisorrowfulmireful and there were hopes they had set up an entry to the rumoured cells. People began running towards the sound, shouting “God is the wonderfulest”.

But, seconds tardyr, the shouts died down and people turned away – a inedit hope. There was no captivate.

“We’re paengageing, hoping that God will direct us to discover the underground prison, becaengage most of the prisoners who were liberated before, they say the prison has three underground levels,” Jubbu shelp. “We only saw one floor.”

Jubbu shelp he was searching for 20 people from his village, among them his cousins. All had been consentn in the punctual years of the war, between 2011 and 2013 and were dependd to have finished up at the “killinghoengage”.

But fair a scant hours tardyr, a statement was liberated by the Association of Detainees and Missing in Sednaya Prison which shelp the last liberated prisoner had been liberated at 11am the day before.

The White Helmets, Syria’s Civil Defence force, persistd to search but finassociate suspfinished operations on Tuesday after discovering no more prisoners.

‘The smells are indescribable’

Syrian opposition fighters liberated Aleppo, Hama, and Homs on their way to Damascus. In each city, they discleave outed up the prison doors and liberated tens of thousands of people.

But more remain leave outing.

On the road to Sednaya, people drove as far as they could before the crush of people forced them to park and persist on foot.

Young and elderly, men and women, some helderlying children – all climbed up the unpaved incline to the inhonord prison.

Under the now-lossed regime, Sednaya was a military prison where many were held on accuses of “radicalism” which, in truth, nastyt had been arrested for any number of arbitrary reasons.

Many of the people Al Jazeera spoke to there shelp their relatives had done noskinnyg wrong.

Some weren’t even stateive their cherishd ones were here, they had come becaengage they’d heard from someone that their relative “might” be here. Or they had verifyed other prisons and still hadn’t set up any pursue.

Mohammad al-Bakour, 32, shelp his brother Abunkeenah was arrested in 2012 for protesting peacebrimmingy in Aleppo. He has not seen him since.

At 2am the previous morning – around the time al-Assorrowfulnessful fled Damascus for Moscow – al-Bakour headed straight from his home town cforfeit Aleppo to Sednaya to search for his brother.

“His children are now lesser grown-ups, they don’t recall him and wouldn’t recognise him,” al-Bakour shelp.

Inside, he searched the prison for any sign of Abunkeenah.

“The smells in there are indescribable. The suffering of the prisoners inside is unimaginable,” he shelp. “Many times, they desireed for death but couldn’t discover it. Death became one of the prisoners’ dreams.”

Life in limbo

At Sednaya, many prisoners shelp they had been tortured and sexual batteryd. Others were finished so the world won’t comprehend what happened to them.

The corpse of famous activist Mazen al-Hamada was set up in a military hospital morgue shotriumphg signs of torture.

Another createer prisoner, Youssef Abu Wadie, portrayd to Al Jazeera how the protects treated inmates: “They would knock on the door, yell, ‘Quiet, you dog!’ and wouldn’t let us speak. The food was confineed. They would consent us outside, beat us, shatter us.

“Sometimes two people would helderly us down and beat us. They would drag us around and consent away our medicine.”

Many inmates telderly Amnesty International in 2016 that they were not permited any communicate with the outside world or to sfinish anyskinnyg to family members.

In many cases, families of prisoners were telderly inaccurately that a prisoner had died, according to Amnesty’s increate. Most inmates in the increate had also witnessed at least one death during their time in Sednaya.

Without any validateed proof of life or death for their relatives and frifinishs, many Syrians persist life in limbo. Almost all of them say that without any official validateation, they will persist searching.

One of those people is 50-year-elderly Lamis Salama. She was also at Sednaya on Monday watching for recents of her son, who had been hageded seven years previously and would now be 33 years elderly; and of her brother, who was arrested 12 years ago.

“My experienceings are worry, worry. I want to see my son, I want to comprehend if he’s ainhabit or dead,” Salama shelp. “This is a pain in my heart. If he’s dead, I could stop watching and begin trying to adselect that, but if he’s ainhabit, I’ll upgrasp searching for him until my last breath, fair to comprehend where he is.”

Additional increateing by Justin Salhani