A systematic policy of silent killings, outside of sight of human rights organizations, has been adopted by the Syrian regime inside its prisons and detention centers, where increasing numbers of detainees are being tortured to death. The number of prisoners held by the Syrian regime has exceeded 100,000 prisoners. These prisoners live under extremely brutal conditions including having food, water, and other needs restricted or withheld, while being subjected to horrific methods of physical and psychological torture. Recently, 72 victims from Al-Qaryatien, Mahien and Hwarien in Homs have died as a result of torture.
The Syrian regime’s security forces in Homs Governorate informed the families of those 72 detainees of their death inside the detention centers, without revealing the cause. This came in preparation for an organized deal between the rebels and the Syrian regime aimed at dissuading the rebels from cutting a gas pipeline that passes through Al-Qaryatien in Homs. In exchange, the Syrian regime was to release local people held in detention. However, instead of releasing the prisoners on the list, the Syrian regime told families of the detainees that dozens of the prisoners died in prison. The prisoners, who died, are divided as follows:
43 from Al-Qaryatien city.
15 from Hwarien town.
14 from Mahien town.
According to DCHRS activists in Homs, the Syrian regime informed families of detainees who had been taken captive at different times of their deaths, without providing any time to collect their bodies, and without revealing the causes of death.
On Friday October 31, 2014 DCHRS documented 43 victims, who died under torture in Syrian jails in al-Qaryatien. Their names were included in a telegram sent to the residents by the Syrian regime:
Ahmad Taysir Ad-Doroubi
Ahmad Abdulkhaleq Al-Amouri
Ahmad Mohammad Al-Iliwi
Ahmad Marwan Al-Bakier
Ahmad Nayef Shahoud Al-Ibrahim
Ayman Khadr Al-Assoura
Burhan Rateb Ash-Shabbak
Jamal Khaled Ad-D’iefis
Hassan Abdou As-Sabra
Dahham Mohammad Talal Al-Ibied
Ryad Khaled As-Swies
Samer Mohammad Aziz
Sakhr Nayef Qashoua
Salah Ibrahim Ash-Shahien
Adel Ahmad As-Salama
Abdulkarim Ahmad As-Sad
Abdullah Mohammad As-Sliebi
Udai Walid Al-Fares
Alaa Salah Ad-Din Al-Khaled
Emad Qasem Ad-Dukhan
Emad Walid Al-Fares
Feras Ali Al-Arki
Qasem Ziad Al-Khatib
Kenan Abdullatif As-Sliebi
Mohammad Akram Ad-Darwish
Mohammad Rateb Abu-Ghalioun
Mohammad Abdurrahman Al-Ibied
Mohammad Emad Ad-Din Al-Fares
Mohammad Eissa Al-Hsien
Mohammad Mohammad Saeed Al-Fares
Mohammad Mousa Al-Fayhan
Mahmoud Ghassan Al-Mashlab
Madien Khaled Khairllah
Mustafa Emad Ad-Din Al-Fares
Makram Ghassan Al-Qattash
Mansour Ali Ad-Doroubi
Mohannad Nedal Al-Arnas
Hesham Abdurrahman Al-Yasouf
Ward Omar Al-Fares
Yazan Marwan Al-Bakier
On November 2, 2014 the Syrian regime sent another list of 29 victims to Hwarien and Mahien town in Homs. At the time this report was release, the families had yet to receive their bodies.
Ahmad Mohammad Ad-Da’ief, from Mahien
Ayman Mohammad Ash-Shebli, from Mahien.
Bahjat Khaled Hammadi, from Mahien.
Abdurrahim Mohammad Bakour, from Mahien.
Ali Hussein Ash-Shawi, from Mahien.
Ali So’oud Al-Awad, from Mahien.
Ghassan Mahmoud Al-Qaddour, from Mahien.
Kamal Mustafa Ibrahim, from Mahien.
Mohammad Hmadi Al-Hmadi, from Mahien.
Mohammad Fehmi Izzdin, from Mahien.
Mohammad Subhi Qaddour, from Mahien.
Mahmoud Subhi Ash-Shawi, from Mahien.
Saeed Mohammad Ash-Shebli, from Mahien.
Khaled Ahmad Al-Qasem, from Mahien.
Ahmad Mohammad Ad-Doud, from Hwarien.
Taufiq As-Salama, from Hwarien.
Khaled Khirou An-Nafra, from Hwarien.
Shafi Khirou An-Nafra, from Hwarien.
Raslan Ghazi As-Salam, from Hwarien.
Rafiq Ahmad As-Salama, from Hwarien.
Adel Ahmad As-Salama, from Hwarien.
Abdou Murshed Az-Zou’bi, from Hwarien.
Attallah Qasem Ajoub, from Hwarien.
Ahd Mohammad Fer’oun, from Hwarien.
Mohammad Ahmad Al-Mafraj, from Hwarien.
Mohammad Mahmoud Abu-Samra, from Hwarien.
Mohammad Abdurrahman Fer’oun, from Hwarien.
Mohannad Samir Ad-Doud, from Hwarien.
Article 2 of Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Syria has signed pursuant to decree 39 of 2004, states in the second paragraph: “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.”
The Syrian regime deprives prisoners of their legal rights, including the right to defense, the right to a fair trial, and the right to appeal when arbitrarily arrested, tortured, and imprisoned without trial. This constitutes a war crime according to Article 8-2-a-vi of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as Article 8-2-b-x of the aforementioned document: “Subjecting persons who are in the power of an adverse party to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in his or her interest, and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons”. As has been demonstrated, the Syrian regime has committed such crimes.
Furthermore, it can be classified as a crime against humanity according to Article 7-1-a of ICC’s Rome Statute: For the purpose of this Statute, ‘crime against humanity’ means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack: (a) Murder;”
Therefore, the Syrian regime urges the international community to implement the principles of the 1948’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights pertaining to torture, the seventh Article of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 1995 Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the 1975 declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the 1979 Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the 1988 Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, and the 1990 Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners, as the Syrian regime has violated all of the above documents, and continues to do so.
Furthermore, DCHRS urges the international community to hold accountable those individuals responsible for the torture and extrajudicial killing of Syrian prisoners, on the grounds that they have perpetrated war crimes, according to article 8-2-a-iii of ICC’s Rome Statute.
Additionally, DCHRS demands that the Syrian regime reveal the fates of the prisoners held inside its formal and informal detention centers.
Also, DCHRS urges relevant organizations, headed by the UN, to seriously consider this statement and act upon it responsibly with respect to what is happening inside the Syrian regime’s detention centers, and regarding the fates of tens of thousands of forcibly-disappeared persons.
It should be noted that DCHRS documented 2024 (two thousand and twenty four) victims who have all been tortured to death from the beginning of 2014 to the end of October, breaking down as follows:
214 in January, 186 in February, 214 in March, 227 in April, 306 in May, 256 in June, 161 in July, 225 in August, 125 in September, and 128 in October.
This horrific number must be seen as a call for all concerned organization to take immediate action in order to put an end to this bloodbath of silent murder.
Damascus Center for Human Rights
10-11-2014
List of the Victims who were tortured and killed in prison in Arabic
For more information, please contact
Dr. Radwan Ziadeh, Executive director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies.
Phone (571) 205-3590
Email : radwan.ziadeh@gmail.com
Mr. Mojahed Ghadban, Communication Officer.
Telephone (479) 799-8115
Email: info@dchrs.org
DCHRS is an independent, non-governmental organization, established in 2005, located in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Its mission is to foster a spirit of support and respect for the values and standards of human rights in Syria. As such, DCHRS recognizes and adheres to all pertinent international human rights agreements and declarations issued by the UN.
DCHRS is a member of the following international networks:
- International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
- Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN)
- NGO Coalition for the international Criminal Court
- International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP)
- International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC)
DCHRS worked on a variety of documentation projects. Such projects included daily casualty reports, massacre reports, and other human rights violations reports. Also DCHRS has been working on advocacy and lobbying in different human rights institutions in order to educate and acknowledge about the deteriorating human rights situation in Syria.. After the launch of the Syrian revolution, the center increased its activities through working, communicating, and coordinating with many members and activists. Thus the center began documenting daily violations committed by the Syrian regime forces that can be classified as crimes against humanities and war crimes. Such violations included: extrajudicial killings, massacres, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, rape, torture in prisons. DCHRS opened local offices in Syria in order to document, collect, and observe human rights violations on the ground. DCHRS submitted those reports to many international and regional human rights organizations and communicated with the Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on Syria.