Syrian women speak out about torture in Assad’s prisons

Women have revealed the horrific sexual violence and torture in former Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad’s prisons during the 2011-2024 Syrian civil war, France 24 reported on October 10th.

The subject is incredibly taboo and can cause great danger to these womens lives, so they have explained their story anonymously.

Asma 43 was arrested in 2016 for treating and helping the besieged population of Eastern Ghouta, which is a suburb of the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Asma was sentenced to 15 years in prison but served one year, as part of a prison swap between the government and a rebel group.

Asma explained how her torture began in prison, and the first time she was tortured, three men were hanging from a wall.

After being in prison for three days, Asma’s sexual abuse began. Asma said: “It was cold that night, I remember every second of it, it lasted about four hours.”

” I was raped 13 times, I counted them like I counted the number of steps to the Palestine Branch.”

Yasmine, 32, was arrested in 2015. She was accused of being associated with “terrorists” She spent four months behind bars.

Yasmine explained: “My torture began as soon as I arrived. There wasn’t really an interrogation; they were just pretending. They asked me one or two questions, then began to isolate and torture me. I was in the basement.”

Yasmine’s sexual abuser’s name was Nader; he was not an officer in the prison. Yasmine explained that at the time she was barely 22 years of age and expressed how her sexual abuse was unimaginable.

She explained that she was unable to wash herself due to the lack of a bathroom, a situation that persisted for 25 days until the next branch.

Not only have these women had to endure extreme suffering, but it appears that the women who were freed from Assad’s regime back in December 2024,  have still been suffering from social stigmatisation.

A female Syrian therapist, Zin Aldin, who works with women prisoners, has explained the trauma of being imprisoned and tortured by the Syrian state and the trauma of going back to ordinary life.

Aldin also shared that one of her patients said to her,” I don’t know if I’m a good woman or a dirty woman.” Aldin maintained that these women should not stay quiet.

Earlier in June, top secret intelligence files revealed that the missing American journalist, Austin Tice, was captured by the former Assad regime.

Working as a freelance journalist, Austin Tice went missing in Damascus in August 2012, when he was 31. An online video was posted showing the journalist blindfolded, with his hands tied, and forced to recite an Islamic declaration of faith. Reportedly, between 2012 and 2013 Tice escaped his imprisonment, but was later recaptured.

Assad’s regime has caused devastation for both women and men in Syria, in which torture and wider abuse had taken place under detention.

France 24, Maghrebi.org