Enab Baladi – Hani Karazi

“For our revolution, we must continue our lives and forget the tragedies of detention,” despite nearly nine years passing since Hassnah al-Hariri was released from al-Assad regime’s prisons, the agonies and painful memories still accompany her to this day, making her one of thousands of survivors who suffered for years after being released from the Syrian regime’s detention centers.

Recalling the memories of the survivors with the prisons and the tortures they endured comes as the world celebrates the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, which falls on June 26 every year. The United Nations General Assembly approved this day in 1997 to eliminate torture completely and to effectively implement the Convention Against Torture, which came into effect on June 26, 1987.

“We forget the tragedies of detention to continue our revolution”

Though Syrian detainees have regained their freedom, they do not consider themselves survivors. Torture leaves marks on their minds and bodies that time cannot erase, and the repercussions of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) accompany them for years, affecting their daily lives.

Hassnah al-Hariri lost three of her sons, her husband, her four brothers, and her daughters’ husbands at the hands of the Syrian regime. The regime also detained her for about a year and a half, during which she endured immense suffering, before seeking refuge in Jordan and later being relocated to Canada. Despite this, she remained committed to the principles of the Syrian revolution.

Al-Hariri (62) from Busra al-Harir in Daraa, was arrested on July 14, 2012, on charges of “funding terrorism, kidnapping officers, and transporting weapons.” She says, “I moved between seven security branches where I was subjected to the most severe types of torture. At the same time, I witnessed various forms of torture that the regime practiced against detainees. The most difficult moment that never leaves my mind is when a ten-year-old girl died in front of me due to violent rape by al-Assad’s thugs.”

She adds to Enab Baladi, “The moments of detention never leave my mind. Every night, I experience a new nightmare despite more than nine years passing since my release from prison. Horrible scenes haunt me daily in my sleep and wakefulness. I cannot forget the voices of the young men screaming in pain while the regime used electric drill guns to gouge out their eyes and electric saws to sever their limbs.”

“Another harsh moment that never leaves my mind is when a married woman with children died in my hands after she was brutally raped and was thrown into a room full of rats that gnawed at her body. The regime detained her just because she was taking cooked food to her brothers participating in the revolution,” al-Hariri recalls.

I would be lying if I say I forgot what I witnessed in the security branches, but I am forced to forget it to remain strong and resilient to support our revolution. The regime, through its psychological and physical torture of detainees, wants them to remain weak for their entire lives, but I will not give it that opportunity.

Hassnah al-Hariri – Former detainee in Syrian regime prisons

Despite all the torture al-Hariri endured or witnessed, she insists on forgetting it, saying, “We should not dwell on sadness and remember all the prison tragedies. I would be lying if I say I forgot what I witnessed in the security branches, but I am forced to forget it to remain strong and resilient to support our revolution. The regime, through its psychological and physical torture of detainees, wants them to remain weak for their entire lives, but I will not give it that opportunity.”

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The Syrian regime employs methods that destroy the personality and psyche of detainees even after their release. Thus, the survivor lives under severe psychological conditions that may accompany them for years, possibly leading some to commit suicide.

Although seven years have passed since Mouayad Jdou was released from Palestine Branch in Damascus, he still lives an abnormal life. He says, “All the circumstances I experienced in detention still accompany me to this day. I prefer sitting alone in the dark, and I ask my wife every day to prepare soup for lunch and boiled potatoes for breakfast, and I do not spend more than five minutes in the shower.”

Jdou (37) who lives in Bursa, Turkey, adds to Enab Baladi, “A week rarely passes without a new nightmare haunting me. I can no longer tolerate sleep. Even in wakefulness, sometimes moments of torture appear in my mind, like when the interrogator extinguished cigarette butts on my back and stomach or put his shoe in my mouth. I endured the most severe types of torture in the Palestine Branch, and I do not know until when these harsh torture memories will accompany me, maybe my entire life.”

Psychologist Basel Namera says, “The detainee emerges in a state of post-traumatic stress disorder after being away from society and the environment they used to live in, finding it difficult to accept the people and events that changed during their detention. They even notice changes in how people treat them, making them feel like strangers.”

The psychological effects accompanying the detainee due to post-traumatic stress disorder lead them into a depression phase.

Basel Namera – Psychologist

Namera adds to Enab Baladi that the psychological effects accompanying the detainee due to post-traumatic stress disorder lead them into a depression phase, causing them to isolate from society, especially if they have physical torture marks that they could not overcome, such as a physical disability or disfigurement. They keep thinking and asking themselves, how will society accept me again in this state? Some survivors start thinking about suicide to end their lives because they believe they have no value after losing their status and a significant period of their lives.

Namera pointed out that nightmares and torture scenes during sleep might persist for a while after the detainee’s release, as they leave scars in memory that can last long if not treated by a psychological specialist, who might have to prescribe some psychiatric medications for a limited period, along with behavioral psychotherapy that helps get rid of these nightmares and make the former detainee sleep deeply.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological condition triggered by a frightening event or memory that the person experienced. The individual relives the events, fear, anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts whenever something reminds them of the event that caused them pain and suffering. This results in recurring nightmares, severe emotional reactions, and significant stress. Individuals with this disorder tend to avoid anything that reminds them of the event or even flee from discussing it.

How to remove the prison tragedies from within us?

The harsh conditions that detainees endured in the Syrian regime’s prisons led some to lose their memory wholly or partially. In February, the regime released young Mahmoud Kafrantoni from rural Idlib after being detained for seven and a half years in Sednaya Prison, but he lost part of his memory.

Survivors from the regime’s prisons resort to silence, isolation, and not talking about their circumstances due to feeling that their surroundings cannot offer help except for sympathetic looks that might make them feel incomplete and increase their suffering. Remembering the torture they went through might induce the same or similar pain they experienced during their torture period.

To overcome the psychological effects of detention, Basel Namera emphasizes the need for every survivor to undergo structured psychological therapy sessions to conduct a scientific and accurate evaluation of the condition and develop a complete psychological recovery plan. This plan should be devised by specialists in a scientific and programmed manner, including individual and group sessions, personality rebuilding programs, and correct reintegration into society.

Namera explains that any therapeutic program should last no less than half the duration the person spent in detention to say that they have reached complete recovery. He pointed out that the family’s role is to provide emotional support to the survivor and motivate them to return to their normal life because they are the closest and most capable of understanding that the torture they endured left significant psychological scars.

The United Nations affirmed that recovery from the effects of torture requires rapid and specialized psychological support programs. Thus, in 1981, it launched a fund for torture victims’ donations, managed by the United Nations Human Rights Office in Geneva, to provide funding for projects that support torture victims and their families.

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

June 26 marks the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture each year, providing an opportunity to call on all stakeholders, including United Nations member states, civil society, and individuals everywhere, to unite in supporting hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who have been victims of torture, as well as those still subjected to torture, according to the United Nations‘ website.

Torture is a crime under international law, entirely prohibited by all relevant instruments, and cannot be justified under any circumstances. This means that every country must avoid it with its citizens, even if it has not agreed to specific treaties prohibiting torture.

The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted in 1984 and came into force in 1987. It is implemented among state parties by a committee of independent experts, the Committee Against Torture.

In 1985, the Human Rights Committee appointed the first Special Rapporteur on Torture, an independent expert tasked with reporting on cases of torture worldwide.

On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) released its thirteenth annual report on torture in Syria today, Wednesday, June 26.

The report indicated that the death toll of those killed due to torture in Syria amounted to 15,383 people, including 199 children and 115 women (adult females). The Syrian regime was responsible for 15,098 of them, including 190 children and 95 women, from March 2011 to June 2024.