Last month, dozens died from torture in Syrian prisons

Last month, dozens died from torture in Syrian prisons
At least 58 Syrian detainees were tortured to death in regime prisons in September, a Syrian human rights group has said.
2 min read
02 October, 2016
Almost sixty have been killed in prison during the last month [AFP]
At least 58 people were tortured to death last month in Syria, the Syrian Network for Human Rights has said, almost all by regime security.  

All but one of the deaths were committed by regime jailers, while one detainee died at the hands of a commander of the formerly al-Qaeda alligned Fatah al-Sham rebel group.

The largest number of victims were from the province of Homs with 28 detainees from the region murdered by regime agents, including a pharmacist and a female athlete.

The network gains most of its information from the relatives of detainees.

In most cases, regime jailers refuse to hand the bodies of those killed to parents and family members. Others are often too afraid to retrieve their loved ones from military hospitals through fear of arrest.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian detainees remain in Syrian prisons that are under a total state of neglect caused by the international community and human rights organisations.

The regime continues to torture prisoners and withhold information to desperate family members.

"Every day the number of victims in Syrian prisons increase," said Kamel al-Haj Ahmed, a Syrian lawyer for The New Arab.

"Provisions have changed allowing military field courts to issue sentences against political detainees without any notification to family members."

Other deaths in prison occur due to neglect from authorities.

"Many deaths occur to torture in addition to the spread of disease and lack of medical care, the cold and starvation."