Syria Unearths Years of Atrocities

this is Christina gold bomb I'm in. Damascus capital of Syria right now and. I'm walking through a prison that's. underneath one of the intelligence. branches in the. capital there are these three solitary. confinement rooms and etched onto the. walls her messages from ERS who were.

held here one of the messages says I. love you Mom there are others that are. praying to. God um there's also an etching up a. mosque what's inside that. folder. uh and earlier as we were going through. the building we found a folder with. pictures of what looked like prisoners. who had been tortured and killed uh this. is they like a a report for the death oh.

man and death certificates next to. them you know when we first arrived in. Syria just a day after the rebels took. the country there was a lot of. Celebration a lot of people out on the. streets finally feeling this taste of. freedom. and as the week has gone on and we've. come to more and more of these prisons. and torture facilities it's just clear.

how just how much of a reckoning the. country is going to have to go through. now to confront and reconcile with all. of the horrors that happened over the. past couple. [Music]. decades from The New York Times I'm. Sabrina tavernes and this is the. daily after the fall of Bashar alassad. and the opening up of Syria tens of. thousands of people were released from.

prisons across the country many had been. locked away for. years today my colleague Christina gold. Bal takes us inside one of those prisons. and tells us the story of a man who made. it. out it's Tuesday December. [Music]. 17th Christina what was it like when you.

first got to. Syria so my colleagues and I drove into. Syria towards the capital Damascus 24. hours after the rebels had seized the. country and the highway was filled with. these very surreal. scenes here General Security usually wow. this is they used to stop us here there. were checkpoints where usually you would. spend hours being interrogated by police. officers and security forces that had. been completely.

abandoned you see we saw posters of. Bashar al-assad that used to be. ubiquitous that had been torn down and. either ripped apart or. burned and we also began to see the. closer we got to the capital signs of. the rebels who had entered the city they. were driving these cars that had been. painted in this kind of beige mud almost. like a makeshift camouflage from their. rapid offensive towards the capital. and then we saw people from Damascus who.

were out on the streets they were. putting their fingers in a v in the air. signifying Victory and they were. cheering on the rebels as they drove. past. them to celebrate this incredible moment. in the country's. history but for a lot of people here. that moment is also about finally. getting. answers the Assad government had set up. this fast network of detention.

facilities and prisons and torture. chambers that swallowed up tens of. thousands of people across the country. and for years this was a complete Black. Box people would disappear into the. system and their families would have no. idea what happened to them where they. went or whether or not they were still. alive but now with the fall of that. government suddenly people hoped for. answers and as we were driving through. the city we saw a huge Convoy of cars. going to the epicenter of that system a.

prison called Sia which is one of the. most notorious in all of. Syria and my colleague white Asad and I. joined them as they went on that. [Music]. Journey as we were driving towards the. prison you can see leading to the prison. there is this massive Convoy of cars all. people who were trying to get there. others have we got caught in this. traffic because there were thousands of.

people on Monday morning trying to get. there we ended up getting out of our car. with a lot of other people and just. walking down the road for about an hour. until we reached the outskirts of the. prison we then walked with people up. this kind of foot path that led up the. Hillside and the prison Gates let's go. let's. try people inside were in an absolute. Frenzy.

there were these crowds of people. cramming into different. cells my brother-in-law he's been in. prison 2012 they were screaming the. names of their relatives who had been. lost into this. prison he has two brothers some of them. had print out photos of their sons or. brothers or. husbands and we're shoving them in. people's faces asking have you seen this. person have you seen this person all.

these cases all missing their relatives. are missing and they lucky let's go the. and walking around there were these. quiet testimonies of what life was like. inside this. prison there were feces across the floor. and messages scrawled into the walls. some of which were begging for death. rather than staying. there and a lot of prisoners had escaped. on Sunday morning after the government. fell but there were still thousands of. others that family suspected of being in.

sedah who were still unaccounted for and. so these families were going around the. prison looking for any kind of scraps of. information any clues as to where their. relatives. were what's over here uh this is another. section of the VIS let's look you know. one of the first rooms that we walked. into looked like maybe it had been an. electrical room in the prison and we. came across one guy there who had a. shovel in.

hand what is he doing and he was. knocking against the wall and the. floor trying to hear an echo that maybe. would signal there was something Hollow. underneath maybe a room beneath the. floor he can see wires here but where. these wires are going he started also. kind of pulling apart the wires saying. you know where does this go you know. again thinking that maybe it led to. something underneath the prison some. cells that were.

[Music]. there there are people here she. said as we stepped into another room. there was also a woman who seemed to be. just convinced that she was hearing. voices on the other side of a wall and. she was trying to get the guys around. her who had these pickaxes to tear. through it because she was saying that. she heard voices there she heard them. there 12 years her son she doesn't know. what she prison Maybe he's.

here she was looking for her son who had. gone missing 12 years. ago at one point people believed that. maybe there were hidden cells like three. stories underground and so they started. picking up pickaxes and Hammers and. shovels and just tearing into the. floors trying to find any kind of Shaft. or opening or room that might have been. hidden and people were maybe stuck. inside and as they were doing that this. kind of massive crowd started forming.

around them cuz people thought that. maybe they had discovered something that. they had discovered a secret door or. secret stairwell and they wanted to get. a glimpse of what was. underneath move backward move backward. let us work and the few Rebels who were. there around them were screaming at the. crowd telling them to back up and give. them space and let them work because it. was just such a chaotic scene.

and Christina did they find anything in. all this digging so hours and hours. after tearing up this place the rescue. workers who were there said that they. didn't think that there were any hidden. compartments underneath the prison and. that all the prisoners who were there. and who are still alive were released. already but the next morning there was. also news that 38 bodies had been. discovered in the prison and they were. brought to a hospital at the center of. the city.

so my colleagues and I went to that. hospital and to the morg where there. were forensic examiners going through. each of these. corpses trying to find any identifiable. symbol any tattoo any birth mark. anything every pictur have a number. taking photos of them and then posting. them on telegram so that families could. look through and see if they recognized. any of these corpses the most of them. are dying because of the and the doctors.

believed that some of those people had. died days earlier but there were others. that they thought had been dead for. weeks or a month and you could smell. that as they opened the kind of tarps. and informal body bags they had with. this just stench that filled the. room tons of people started coming there. determined to get a look at these bodies. themselves there were just throngs of.

women and men who were just shoving and. trying to get into the examination room. itself saying that they didn't recognize. any of the photos and they wanted to see. the bodies. themselves and at one point as the day. dragged on one of the doctors just kind. of gave up and said okay fine if you. want to see these people come in open. the doors and this massive crowd of. people came into this refrigerator room. and started opening the tarps of bodies.

and looking at them in just this kind of. horror some of them had shown signs of. what looked to be torture there were red. marks around one of the necks of one of. these bodies another had kind of. puncture wounds that one of the doctors. thought were from a hot iron that this. person had likely been hit with many. times. one of these bodies didn't have a face.

anymore it was just this charred skull. just beyond. [Music]. [Applause]. recognition it was incredibly. intense I mean women were leaving that. room in tears and. screaming cursing Assad and asking that. he burn in hell. [Music].

you know until that point I think people. had really believed that there was a way. of finding folks alive that there was. some secret rooms or some other. attention facility or you know somewhere. where they'd be broken free from and I. think it's one thing to see the. scribblings on the wall of this really. grim prison it's another to see not just. that people might have died but how they. died and what they endured before they. died. [Music].

[Music]. [Music]. but we did meet one family at the prison. that day who got some answers their son. had been released from sah when the. rebel took the city and so he was able.

to tell us the story of Life inside the. prison for the first. time thank you so much for having us in. your house and so his name is bil. shahadi he's 26 years old and we met him. at his house me and my colleague raham. mared who was translating and walked in. and sat down on the floor of their. living room there was a small heater. there too because it was a pretty cold. day. I grew up here in this Village and it.

was um actually good and he was telling. us about how he had grown up in the. suburb of the city with a pretty big. family he's one of four brothers and a. number of sisters too his dad worked. selling fresh water to people in the. neighborhood and you know he remembers. when he was younger going to these. amusement parks in Damascus with the. siblings and going swimming and having. barbecues on the hillside and this life.

that felt very peaceful and full of. promise for him and his. family there was bling foot but when the. war started in 2011 Bal was in the sixth. grade and his parents got very nervous. about everything going on so they pulled. him out of class and pretty early on the. war started to take its toll on his. family.

two of his older brothers were both. arrested by Security forces his Dad. tried to get both of them back to their. families without any luck and at one. point he was describing this to me and. said how he had asked someone in the. security forces for more information on. one of his sons and was told that his. son would be released in 2 hours after. questioning and now he stayed in prison. for 14. but it has been over a decade.

since and why were bal's brothers. arrested so like a lot of families in. Syria they never actually got a clear. answer of what either of the brothers. was accused of and that's something that. was pretty common under Assad's. government these kind of arbitrary. arrests where people are picked off the. street thrown into prison and families. don't know where they went or what. happened to them or what the charges. against them are but I think his. brother's arrest instilled a lot of fear.

in him he was conscripted into the army. when he was 18 years old as men are. required to do and soon after when he. sees the horrors of the Civil. War and the risks that Syrian soldiers. are facing he deserts the military and. goes back to his family but deserting. the Army is what eventually gets him. arrested by the police as well. [Music].

so he's moved from Detention Facility to. Detention Facility and eventually put in. a truck with around 150 other people all. of them with iron cuffs on their wrists. tied to each other and brought to. [Music]. sah we'll be right back. [Music].

so Christina this man you met Bal told. you about how he got arrested and sent. to cidah prison what did he say about. what life was like inside the prison he. described the conditions in the prison. as being just absolutely. [Music]. horrifying he's brought to the cell. that's underground and rarely ever seees. sunlight again a spot a tiny hole a tiny.

hole yeah there were about a hundred. other people in the cell with. him all the all the men they have to use. one bathroom inside the room only one. toilet in the corner of the room that. all of them had to. share the cell always smells like sewage. and there was this kind of layer of. grime across the floor and the walls how. much food would.

he said that usually they would only get. potato for one potato for eight people. in a day and that they would have to cut. up that single potato into tiny portions. for everyone who was sharing it with him. in the best way you will take a bigger. slice and they barely got any water with. that too so the people uh didn't think. about anything except. the every morning. okay every day in in our room they take.

the names MH the prison guards would. come around and do a roll call of. everyone in the cell and when that. happened they had to have their faces. against the. wall and he never actually saw any of. the guards who were there he only ever. heard their. voices and then occasionally he said. often when they were in bad mood or. angry about something they would drag. one of the prisoners out and beat and.

torture. him Bal said that occasionally he was. the one who was brought out and taken to. this room his sitting like this as he. was describing this to me he kind of. stood up and bent over his hands by his. ankles I don't know sck yeah between his. legs and said that they would usually. put an iron Rod between his knees.

so you couldn't move okay okay and then. what. happened and then they would kick. him and two set on my back they stepped. on his back they stopped on his back. they stopped in his they would stomp on. his face and they would hit him in the. back what were they beating him with. it's a leather leather okay. okay and he told us that usually when. this happened there would be other. guards in the room who would be yelling.

curses at him and kind of cheering on. whoever was actually beating him that. day if anyone if they beat anyone all. said no heard the screaming and usually. other prisoners could hear whoever was. being beaten or tortured that day from. their cells they hear the sound. of they would hear them screaming and. crying out for help and they would know. what would come the next time that they. were pulled out of the room. how does Bal describe his mental state.

through all of this he said it was. absolutely. unbearable if I die it will be better so. I was praying for. dying and he spent most of the 2 years. that he was in sah praying to die. because that felt easier than enduring. the torture. anymore and things continued on like. that for a while.

until about a week and a half ago when. he told me he started to notice a bit of. a. change they came a. soldier to our room and they and they. were they were seem. afraid what made you think they were. afraid he said it started with the roll. calls that they used to do every morning. and typically they would say roll call. you animals to all of the prisoners in. the cell because he came he came to our.

room and for the first time he didn't. call us uh. animals but then one morning they said. roll call you guys which just struck him. as being a little bit. strange somehow they were being more. Humane to the prisoners all of a sudden. exactly and then the next day they asked. them they told him how are you how they. were in the morning which he thought was. even more strange B turned his head and.

he was so surprised that he turned his. head around to look at the guard he. didn't beat. him but he also wasn't beaten for doing. that the the. food it was good and then the next. day oh they give them give biscuits the. guard started giving the prisoners small. cookies with he hadn't had in the two.

years he had been there and he told me. that as this was happening he was. talking to the other prisoners trying to. figure out what exactly was going on I. thought the regime make a decision that. they they will not us any anymore but. they didn't even imagine that they were. only days away from walking out the. prison's Gates and being. free and then on Saturday. night he told me wake up they here one.

of his cellmates shook him to wake him. up and was telling him that something. was going on that maybe they would be. freed I told him I want to go to sleep. don't lie to me why you are tell me this. and Bal didn't believe him he told him. to leave him alone he was asleep he told. him here. listen and they hear and Bal hears. people shouting God is great and. realizes that something is going on and.

eventually he pieces together that one. of the prison guards had stripped off. his uniform opened one of the cells. dropped the keys and ran hey go all the. men go. out and all of the prisoners from that. cell had taken the keys had unlocked the. other cells there and they were rushing. out of the doors out of the prison. Christina why had the guard done that. the officer that the regime.

officer he changed. his we don't know for certain but it. seemed like maybe the guard had heard. that the rebels were nearing the prison. and thought that if he opened the prison. cells and wore civilian clothes he could. blend in with prisoners leaving. themselves and Escape wow. okay so you go out you see that everyone. is Le where do you go what did you. do so Bal gets out of his cell enter the. the the offices uh for the the.

officers he runs to an office within the. prison finds a photo of Bashar Al Assad. I burned bashar's. pictures and burns it and then he walks. out of the prison Gates okay and in that. moment how would you describe how you. felt it was a. he told me that he felt like he was.

dreaming this entire time that he. couldn't actually believe that he had. been. [Music]. freed how has it been for Bol to be home. I think the past week and a half has. been a kind of Whirlwind of emotions for. belal and his family I talked to his mom. about this for his mother when you saw. belal.

it's like happy this is the. happiness. crying on the one hand they are. incredibly grateful and happy and. Overjoyed that they finally have one of. their son's home that he's okay that. he's with their family that he's. alive and balal himself is Overjoyed to. be free to be able to be with his family.

and be back in his home and not live in. the Perpetual fear of being beaten or. tortured in prison but at the same time. I think with every day that's passed. since the Assad government fell his mom. his dad Bal have all realized more and. more that it's very unlikely his. brothers are coming home.

I think I L hope no why because they. they. are didn't come with her song the other. song what. she and a few days after we went to. bal's home I talked to his father who. had sent a relative back to Sia and he. had found a death certificate for one of. his sons oh wow but there still isn't.

any other news of the. other so they got one answer but still. don't have the other. exactly when you talked to bal's Father. how was he feeling about this he was. incredibly sad and crying but at the. same time he was talking about how he. wanted revenge for what happened to his. sons he told me the first time he went. to siah he wanted to burn it down he.

wanted to find who did this to them and. break their neck he wanted some kind of. justice for everything that his family. had endured he was also incredibly angry. about the fact that he still even now. doesn't have. [Music]. answers Christina do they plan on. continuing their search in the coming.

days they do theyve sent relatives back. to snia they've talked to friends who've. gone to other detention facilities and. have rifled through the papers there I. think that until they find something. concrete until they know where their. sons were buried if they're both killed. and can hold them in their arms. themselves there isn't really a sense of. closure. [Music]. that's what his father what his mother.

kept coming back to was wanting to have. their bodies in their arms to know where. they are and to be able to bury them. themselves until that happens their. search will. [Music]. continue Christina thank you thanks for. having me.

[Music]. we'll be right. back here's what else you should know. today on Monday the German government. collapsed after after Chancellor Olaf. Schultz lost a no confidence vote in the.

country's. Parliament Schultz was forced to take. the unusual step of calling for the vote. because his three-party Coalition. splintered last month leaving him. without a parliamentary majority to pass. laws or a budget new elections are. slated for late. February and a judge has rejected the. argument made by president-elect Donald. Trump that he is protected by. Presidential immunity when it comes to.

his conviction in the state of New York. judge Juan merchan said on Monday that. the immunity argument does not apply. because the case involves unofficial and. personal acts that preceded Trump's. first term if the decision withstands. the expected appeal he could become the. first felon to serve as. president today's episode was produced. by relle ban Claire tennis gter Lindsay.

Garrison and Stella tan with help from. Eric krupy it was edited by Patricia. willins with help from Lindsay Garrison. contains original music by Dan Powell. Marian Lozano and Rowan Nimo and was. engineered by Chris Wood our theme music. is by Jim brunberg and Ben lansberg of. wonderly special thanks to H Assad in. raham mid.

that's it for the daily I'm Sabrina. Tavern see you tomorrow. [Music].