Damascus: In a haunting interview with CBS News, former Syrian prisoner Mutassim Abdulsatir offered a chilling tour of one of the Assad regime’s most notorious prisons, where thousands of Syrians were tortured, beaten, and killed. His account sheds new light on the brutality that marked the rule of Bashar al-Assad.
Mutassim, once an army officer from Idlib, was imprisoned for over two years after being accused of opposing the regime. Now working with the Association of Detainees and the Missing, he advocates for victims’ families and surviving prisoners. Pointing to blood-stained walls, he described daily killings by guards. “Every day, one person had to die. It was part of the system,” he said.
He recalled how detainees were forced to lick food off the walls when guards hurled yogurt at them instead of feeding them. “There was no water. We would imagine water and pretend to drink it,” he added, describing the psychological torment.
Mutassim spoke of his cellmates who died beside him, their bodies left until morning. He remembered one, Abdul Aziz, whose daughter still asks, “Where is Papa?” unaware that he lies in a mass grave. “Every day there was death. Every guard was programmed to kill,” he said quietly.
Despite his trauma, Mutassim called for justice rather than revenge. “We do not want to become like them,” he said. “We want fair trials for those who ordered the torture and the killings.” His plea echoes the cry of thousands still waiting for justice in post-Assad Syria.
The full video can be seen here
