Syria Justice Archive@SyJusticeArc
Shocking testimonies from freed Kurdish prisoners about brutal torture operations in Al-Jolani’s prisons
In a new report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), harrowing testimonies from prisoners released from the jihadist authority’s detention facilities were documented.
The transitional government released the third batch of detainees, comprising 400 prisoners from jails in Manbij, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Aleppo, Hama, Ras al-Ayn/Serêkaniyê, and Tel Abyad/Girê Spî.
🔹 Prisoners were subjected to torture methods prohibited under international law, including burning, electric shocks, and extreme torture practices such as what is known as “al-Khazouk” (a form of anal torture/rape), particularly in detention centers in the Tel Abyad/Girê Spî area. The nature, repetition, and geographic spread of these practices point to an institutional and systematic pattern of torture, not isolated individual acts.
🔹 Detainees reported systematic humiliation and discriminatory treatment, including persecution based on national and ethnic identity, particularly against Kurdish detainees, as well as religious (sectarian) discrimination against Alawite detainees, alongside degrading and dehumanizing practices.
🔹 These acts constitute a direct violation of the principles of non-discrimination and human dignity, fundamental, non-derogable principles under customary international law and relevant international conventions, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Deliberate starvation, malnutrition, denial of basic healthcare, and severe overcrowding in detention centers were documented, particularly in Aleppo’s prisons, where detainee numbers far exceeded facility capacity.
🔹 Testimonies from female fighters of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) described severe physical and psychological torture, including deliberate harm, psychological pressure, and humiliation. One survivor expressed the scale of suffering, saying:
“Like knives carving into our bodies… we will never forget.”
🔹 Data reveals the continued practice of prolonged arbitrary detention. Among those released were individuals arrested in the Afrin region nearly eight years ago, without formal charges, without being brought before a competent judicial authority, and without access to any fair trial guarantees, a flagrant violation of the prohibition on arbitrary detention and the right to liberty and personal security.
🔹 The testimonies of released prisoners raise serious concerns about the fate of large numbers of detainees whose whereabouts remain unknown. One former prisoner reported that detention centers hold large numbers estimated in the thousands, raising genuine fears that they may be subjected to similar or even graver violations, potentially amounting to enforced disappearances.
🔹The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) demands the following:
The immediate and full disclosure of the fate of all detainees and missing persons, and the publication of official lists of their names and places of detention.
The immediate and unconditional cessation of all forms of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in all detention facilities.
The alignment of detention conditions with binding international standards, and the guarantee of detainees’ fundamental rights, including the right to a fair trial in accordance with due process.