By Nadia Sabagh
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Saydnaya prison, infamous as “The Human Slaughterhouse,” has uncovered harrowing accounts of torture, mass executions, and hidden underground chambers used for systematic abuse by the Syrian regime. Survivors and witnesses describe unimaginable atrocities, highlighting the grim reality faced by thousands of detainees.
On Dec. 8, Muhammad al-Abdullah, a resident near Saydnaya prison located in the north of Damascus, saw a helicopter land on the prison’s roof around 02:30 AM. Officers and regime personnel boarded the aircraft while he observed the scene.
Al-Abdullah told North Press that at 04:00 AM, “I saw the prison gates open, and hundreds of people in civilian clothing emerged, running onto the streets.”
He added that shortly after, he and other locals entered the prison, coinciding with the announcement of the fall of al-Assad regime.
Mother’s wait
Jamila Obeid, a mother of a detainee, sitting outside the prison building on the ground and watching excavation operations, shared her desperate hope for the release of her son, who has been missing in the regime’s prisons for over 10 years.
She said her son had been arrested without cause, simply for studying Islamic law at Damascus University.
She said she never stopped searching for him in prisons and security branches, paying large sums of money to regime officials, hoping for the smallest piece of news. Now, she finds herself sitting here, outside Saydnaya prison, waiting for him.
Among those gathered at the prison was a man who had rushed from Raqqa to search for his brother, detained since 2012. He was accompanied by two young men, each searching for their own brothers who had also disappeared in the regime’s prisons. Saydnaya prison represented their last hope of finding any trace of them, even if only a death certificate.
Human Slaughterhouse
Al-Abdullah explained that the nickname “The Human Slaughterhouse” is no exaggeration—it is a literal description of the unimaginable psychological and physical torture that takes place there, defying any attempt to put it into words.
Located on a small hill in Saydnaya, a city in Damascus countryside, the prison is immediately recognizable by its imposing structure, indicative of the thousands of detainees housed within.
Built in 1987 during the rule of Hafez al-Assad, the prison is surrounded by a large fence and landmines across the hill. It has become a horrifying symbol of the systematic violence practiced by the Syrian regime against detainees, whether political or military.
The prison is divided into two main sections: the Red Section, for political and civilian prisoners, and the White Section, for military detainees.
The four visible floors above ground contain collective cells, divided into sections labeled A, B, and C. Each section splits into right and left wings, further divided into numbered cells from 1 to 15. The layout resembles a maze, with hidden stairs leading up and down, making navigation confusing.
On the prison roof, there are ventilation openings—small concrete squares containing four ventilation pipes. However, these pipes are not for proper ventilation but merely allow prisoners in the underground cells to breathe.
Al-Abdullah noted that guards would only open these vents occasionally, leaving prisoners in complete darkness and without fresh air. Detainees were confined in rooms barely a meter high, forcing them to either crouch or lie flat for extended periods.
Hidden prisons
On the first day of the regime’s collapse, prisoners were freed, and locals entered the prison searching for missing loved ones. Many said they heard voices coming from the ventilation pipes leading to hidden underground cells. However, days of searching yielded no access to these areas, leading some to believe that no secret prisons exist underground, according to al-Abdullah.
In the hospital room, traces of fresh blood were discovered, suggesting bodies had been removed shortly before the regime’s fall. Hundreds of body bags, scattered documents, and numbers—used in place of names for detainees—were found. Identifying the victims would require accessing a master record kept in the prison director’s office, but it appeared these files were taken by fleeing guards.
Furnace section
In the lower levels, the “furnace section” remains an area of intense focus. Locals are still searching with their hands and basic tools, tapping the ground to detect hollow spaces where further excavation might uncover hidden areas.
Residents noted with frustration that the rescue teams conducted their operations for less than two hours before declaring no prisoners were found and ended their efforts. “But what about the voices we heard? What about the stench coming from the pipes? What about the hollow areas beneath the ground?” one resident questioned.
Chambers of horror
The torture chambers in Saydnaya prison are scenes of indescribable horrors. The Press Chamber, a machine typically used to compress metal cans was repurposed to crush prisoners, forcing confessions. It was also used to compress corpses, reducing their size to facilitate disposal.
The Acid Chamber, a pit approximately two meters deep where corpses were thrown, then doused with acid from a pipe to dissolve the bodies. A drain at the bottom of the pit allowed the remnants to flow away.
The Basin Room contains a water basin, this room was used to torture detainees by immersing them in water. Outside the room stood a concrete platform with gallows where executions took place.
The Salt Room resembles a primitive warehouse. The floor was covered with a 20-30 cm layer of coarse salt. Corpses were placed here temporarily to preserve them, especially as the death toll rose and refrigerated morgues were unavailable. Bodies were later transported to military hospitals for documentation before being buried in mass graves or incinerated.