Another chilling reminder of Syria’s years of repression has surfaced: security forces of the country’s new regime have uncovered an underground prison in the Homs province countryside. The prison was used by the regime of former Syrian President Bashar Assad to detain civilians, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
Omar al-Mousa, the director of the al-Mukharram district, said the site was discovered earlier this month during police patrols searching for suspicious locations. He described it as an underground hideout sealed behind a locked iron door.
Inside, investigators found foam mattresses, wool blankets and torture tools such as sticks and ropes, along with books and publications belonging to militias that were backed by Assad’s regime. The site was connected to a tunnel roughly 40 meters (130 feet) long and five meters (16 feet) deep. Al-Mousa added that security services are working to preserve stability and intend to deal firmly with any threats to public safety.
Last month, security forces in Homs province uncovered another underground facility used to hold civilians. The local security official said the facility was used to detain men, women and children for financial and political charges. He vowed that all those involved in the operation of the prison would be prosecuted. One local said the cave had been used for torture and to hold citizens for ransom.
Last year, after the overthrow of Assad’s regime, footage emerged from Saydnaya Prison near Damascus, long seen as a symbol of the former government’s repression. Some inmates were released immediately following the revolution, but many others did not survive the torture they endured.