The lifeless bodies of 15 civilians were found in Saydnaya prison after being tortured, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
The leader of Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS, Levant Liberation Organization), Ahmed Hussein al Shara (known as Abu Mohamed al Golani), announced on Tuesday that he will publish a list with the identities of those senior officials who have been involved in torture against the civilian population of Syria during the regime of Bashar al Assad.
“We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officials involved in the torture of the Syrian people. We will pursue the war criminals and demand that they be punished in the countries to which they fled. We will announce a list that includes the names of the highest officials involved,” the Islamist leader said in a statement on Telegram.
He also said that they would offer rewards to those who provide information about senior army and security service officers involved in war crimes. “We have affirmed our commitment to tolerance against those whose hands are not stained with the blood of the Syrian people, and we have granted amnesty to those who were in compulsory service,” he said.
“The blood of innocent martyrs and the rights of detainees are a trust that we will not allow to be wasted or forgotten,” he concluded. These statements were made after he began talks with the ousted government the day before regarding the transfer of power.
Hours earlier, the Syrian Civil Defense (SCD) organization, known as the “White Helmets,” announced that it had concluded search operations for possible detainees in the secret cells and basements of Saydnaya prison, known as Syria’s “human slaughterhouse” and where tens of thousands of people allegedly opposed to the Al Assad government have died.
As they indicated in a statement published on their X profile, the search –in which up to five teams participated– “has not discovered any hidden area” within the facilities, despite the fact that the prison held “thousands of innocent individuals” and families of the missing believed that some detainees may not have left in recent days, considering that they were in secured areas.
“We share the deep disappointment of the families of the thousands of people who remain missing and whose fate is unknown. We stand in solidarity with the families of the victims, fully understanding their anguish and their desire for answers about their loved ones,” they said.
For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has indicated that in the search efforts in the Saydnaya prison, the lifeless bodies of 15 civilians have been found after having been tortured. It has also indicated that since the beginning of the year it has documented the death under torture and poor medical care of 69 civilians in prisons and security centers of the regime.
The offensive in Syria, launched on 27 November from Idlib province and led by the Syrian group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), has allowed jihadists and rebels to take the capital, Damascus, and put an end to the regime of the Al Assad family, in power since 1971, in the face of a constant withdrawal of government troops, backed by Russia and Iran.
