Syrian rebels have uncovered disturbing evidence of systematic torture and abuse after liberating the notorious Sednaya prison near Damascus, earning it the grim nickname "underground torture city."
As opposition forces advanced toward the capital, they freed hundreds of prisoners, including men, women and children who had been held in the sprawling detention complex. Heart-wrenching footage showed rebels rescuing a young child from the facility, highlighting the indiscriminate nature of the imprisonment.
Human rights organizations estimate that over 100,000 Syrians have vanished into the country's shadowy prison network during the nearly 14-year civil war. Sednaya stood as one of the most feared facilities, where detainees faced brutal treatment at the hands of security forces.
Former prisoners who survived Sednaya have shared harrowing accounts of systematic torture, severe overcrowding, and inhumane conditions within the facility's underground chambers. Many who entered never emerged to tell their stories.
The liberation of Sednaya marks a symbolic victory for rebel forces pushing toward Damascus. However, it also reveals the devastating scale of human rights violations that have characterized Syria's prolonged conflict.
As more former detention centers fall to opposition control, new evidence continues to surface about the regime's treatment of prisoners. The discoveries at Sednaya may represent only a fraction of the abuses carried out in Syria's vast carceral system during the civil war.