Sednaya prison falls, revealing the Assads’ legacy of torture | The Take
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Thousands of prisoners held in Syria’s notorious prisons remain unaccounted for, days after President Bashar al-Assad fled for Russia. Families face an agonising search for their loved ones during a bittersweet moment of freedom. We dive into the emotional toll and the ongoing fight for answers.
In this episode:
-Wafa Ali Mustafa, Syrian activist
-Justin Salhani, Journalist
-Ammar Alselmo, White Helmets volunteer
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Amy Walters, Sonia Bhagat, and Sarí el-Khalili with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Duha Mosaad, Hagir Saleh and Cole Van Miltenburg, and our host, Malika Bilal.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editor is Hisham Abu Salah. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
This is so gut-wrenching, heartbreaking - the Assad family took Syria backwards to the dark ages. I truly wish that hope and sanity will prevail and that the Syrian people will find peace and stability (from South Africa)
No, the Assad family brought Syria forward. Assad's Syria - before US sanctions & constant Israeli aggression - was a shining pinnacle of shared prosperity and civilization. ISIS, sorry, I mean, "democratic rebels" are already bringing to into the dark ages. Beheadings, mass executions, churches looted & destroyed, and they even banned Christmas.
Praying for all those affected by evil.
I.S.L.A.M is evil!
Praying to who ?
💚😇
@@selvamthiagarajan8152 What are you? Lawyer of evil?
Syrian communities have come together embracing all before - bless you Free Syria.
This is admirable work and I'm sure that Al Jazeera is very proud of its reporters. Hope for the Syrian people and all the oppressed peoples of the world.
Prayers for those who suffered in the evil regime, and hope they’ll find their loved ones!
No prayers for those about to suffer though.
excellent interview . Heartbreaking to listen too . I hope the Syrian people get justice .
LOL, good one, tell us another joke !!!😁
My grandma was waiting and searching for her son for 30 years after the comments regime of Afghanistan took her son to prison and he never came back, only after she died they found a mass grave outside the city.
As an Israeli-born American Jew whose always been taught kindness to all, my heart absolutely breaks. My father's parents were from Syria. One was from Damascus and one was from Aleppo. I hope Syria will be open to Israel helping once they get rid of the last regime. There is a special place in H*ll for Bashar Aza! May all who suffered in his hands be saved and helped.
Your leader, Netanyahu, is not far off the likes of Assad with his own genocide.
Don't throw stones from glasshouses. Syrians are the brothers of Palestinians and will not accept injustice to their fellow comrades.
Real Syrian belongs to Syria not israhell
THX a lot for your talk🙏🏻It is so important that the whole world after ignoring so long what happend in Syria, listen to you and others NOW👌🏻🙏🏻🌹💚
Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 202
They shall have (their) portion of what they have earned, and Allah is swift in reckoning☝️❤
I hope that you are including the Americans as well.
@IHZALewis nah I do not but my Allah (Lord) send about all them in his book (Quran ) to earth for us already and He (Allah) knows everything
I want to know that someone is keeping track of the prisoners in a safe and helpful way so that they get the help they need in terms of housing etc. while they may be confused returning back to society. That there is a place they can go to that is safe to meet up with who is searching for them. No pills, just general supports from the community.
May Allah protect all those who are under bombardment from their "neighbor" 🙏
Assad was protecting them from the "neighbor".
Sednaya is so nasty, it looks horrific and should be classed as a crime against humanity.
The thought of what these prisoners have been subjected to truly hurts my soul.
I hope they can recover and heal from their experience.
Kudos to Al Jazeera
Not sure why people are still defending Assad.
Is veryone in prison in Syria innocent? Does anyone know for sure why they were in prisons?
Because of America trying to take Assad down
I don't see many people defending him. Most people are simply rightly suspicious about the women-stoning, Christian-hunting HTS lunatics that have seized power.
Even now people are facing such cruelty in a Muslim country by one of the strongest armies..
@@jesusk1358 even if they were not innocent, no one deserves such cruelty.
Please do a documentary on isreali prisons holding Palestinian people and women also suffering from daily rapes. They're being tortured as much
Nah, Al Jazeera (the Qatari gov't, a US/Israeli puppet regime) isn't really interested in that.
Israel needs to be under control and not allowed anywhere near the state of Syria ‼️
The people of Syria have so much to process and are in a state of shock, they are happy, sad and so many emotions right now. The grief of those who have loved ones missing is beyond words. ALL COUNTRIES MUST STAY OUT AND LET THE PEOPLE BE FREE!!!
They have so much to sort out right now and they only need things sent into their country for help, not for aggression and agendas, they have had enough of that for a lifetime ‼️
God bless the people of Syria ❣️🙏🙏🙏
But you ok with turkey occupied much more syrians land and killing thousands of Kurds 🤔🤔🤔
heart wrenching i hope and pray the syrian people will get their justice no vengence
Why don't show the prison in Saudi Arabia
I agree...also show Israeli prisons where Palestinians are
@@evangel1737 They'll never show that, because that would actually be true. Instead, they have to spread AI videos, unfalsifiable made-up stories, and outright lies about Assad's Syria.
praying for all.
We request Al Jazeera to have such interviews with Phalstinan people
They won’t because Israel is a democracy far away from this kinda cruelty.
They are the only channel broadcasting genocide in Palestine
@@Hermesborugerdian you must be joking
Al Jazeera; thank you! Keep reporting about the prisons and the torture and abuses. This was hidden for so long and the world needs to know. But, don’t let up on speaking out about the genocide happening NOW in GAZA.
What is genocide?
@@obriens456 Read the UN and other humanitarian organizations’s reports.
Very heart breaking information Thankyou
This is pol pot level barbarism
All middle eastern countries have prisons like these. Not unique to Syria only
@@mossadagent9582 this is just false. Torture chambers? Pressure plates to crush prisoners? Execution chambers and fridges? Show me
Not quite but it’s bad regardless
Kudos to Al Jazeera for covering this
Absolutely. Like Sadam, Hitler, and Putin.
Will Al Quida now called HTS be a better leader, and why are they not defending Syria against the invasion of Israel. And did Al Quida not also have a level of cruelty like beheadings?
Assad-and H1tler have so much in common .
So far HTS acts nothing like Al-queda , both are better than Assad
@@ProfessorFickle HTS is literally Al Qaeda, they only changed their name. Well maybe beheading people was a phase then, like a mass murderer that stops killing because he all of a sudden becomes woke. In reality a sweet guy then, right? I wished they stopped walking around with the ISIS flag though, that unnecessary will scare the Christians, and all the other religious minorities.
@@ProfessorFickle nope. Three days after an interview with PBS in 2017*, the HTS stoned a woman - to death - for adultery. Shortly after they took over Damascus, ISIS is riding free in Christian neighbourhoods and priests are hiding their crucifixes. Not an Assad apologist but I doubt the new guys have any interest in maintaining a democratic, secular state.
They asked Israel for help in defeating whatever Syrian forces remained while the war was still going on. The leader of HTS said he wanted to work with Israel to help keep things stable in that region of the world. Don’t believe me ? Do some research.
Of course and now the west and turkey call them rebells, but there were also too many paid fighter from other counties, who don't know the history or the sitiation of Syria at all. Now we will see big countries coming, steeling more land gas oil and ressources from Syria, all important things that Syria would need so much. The rich culture among diffrent religions will end and the christian or alevite people will left Syria. Al Assas was a dictator, yes, but the west still makes big deals with other arab dictators without asking the jail situation ore how the regines treat their manorities. It is so hypocratc.
All documents need to be gathered and secured as evidence against the evil regime that carried out this atrocity against the people of Syria
Will you include the atrocities that America has committed in Syria for decades?
It is deeply unfortunate that humanity seems to have perished. Where has the United Nations been all this time? Where were the advocates of human rights? Where were the so-called Red Cross and the OIC? Why was Bashar al-Assad not stopped from committing these atrocities? The same situation persists in Israel with Palestinian prisoners, and in American prisons, where people suffer immensely. I believe "humanity" has now become just a hollow word.
And in Russia, in Ukraine (by Russia), the Congo, Eritrea, North Korea, Burma, the Uyghur Camps in China and Iran...
@robbiedubbelman3024 I am not a supporter of Russia or China. Whoever commits oppression should be opposed, and those who stand for justice must speak against them and work to stop them. Unfortunately, institutions that should stand for justice are often enslaved to these powers. Moreover, those in high positions are more interested in earning money and fame than standing for what is right.
And in Turkey Saudi Arabia Yemen Bahrain Iraq Iran Qatar Lybia Algeria Pakistan Afghanistan Sudan Somalia.
@@aijazkashmiri313 human rights groups have been documenting and calling out the Assad regimes abuses for decades even before the war even began but what are they supposed to do?
@@aijazkashmiri313 No Jews, no news.
There is always a conversion that God has done. Praise God
Now do one on Turkey's and Qatar's legacy of torture.
Apparently, there are no prisons in Qatar.
You cannot exclude America.
Justice MUST be delivered to the guards
Why human right group keep silent when cruelity is is going on ...
What - now you have woken up? - how long has al jazerra been so silent.
Please investigate other prisons in Syria and ask why they are not releasing all prisoners in the country.
Too bad they didn’t have a person who knows how the prison system works and the layout of it… it’s heartbreaking to see how humans can do this to other humans.
In 2017, the US and the New York Times talked about a new crematorium at this prison, but I have not seen any up close footage strangely enough? I mean, that’s one of the most important things to document I would think, or did I just miss it?
Where are the protests? Encampments? Arrest warrant for Assad? Arrest warrant for Khamenei?
I'm Australian so I can't imagine their pain but I hope they can determine their own future with little foreign interference, they have suffered enough for that right.
My husband left Syria because he was tortured in a prison now he lives in America
Do we feel the same about Guantanamo bay or Abu Grebe?
Wafa Ali Mustafa, the guest you had on, is absolutely gorgeous. My goodness she is a goddess. I hope she finds her dad or some info about him. Good luck Wafa.
Sednaya is like the Syrian Auschwitz, basically.
You typed this without a lick of self-awareness, huh.
Subxaanalaah is heartbreaking 💔 prayers for thus sisters and brothers INSHA ALLAH AMIIN🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲
Now Syria can be the Switzerland of the middle east
they have a big young population, the possibilities are endless.
In your dreams 😂
Please don't be mean. What has emerged from the Syrian death camps is a history no one ever wanted to see again.
@@CarolineMitchell-ud5cr
What about those in Saudi Arabia and Iran??
With Sharia law😂
This is very poor journalism as they talked about Israeli strikes they failed to mention where the strikes were aimed at or what the strikes had to do with the prison.
Missed that, too.
Why should Isreal be bombing Syria? Can you explain that. Why is it that Isreal is killing tens of thousands of people right now, but no one should say anything about their killing spree.
I am so confused with who to believe. I thought toppling Assad now is not the right time but seeing the suffering of the political prisoners, I thought Erdogn made the right decision because if not now, when.
time will tell... small chance of success . zero chance for democracy.
Fyi...Erdogan has the same prison in Turkey
"now is not the right time" is exactly what the apartheid government of the United States said to oppressed black people whenever they tried to fight for their rights prior to 1948
@@mossadagent9582 your name is mossadagent so the opposite is true
Do you want to guess what other country used the same prison to torture and extract info from innocent detainees taken to Syria via a policy named Extraordinary Rendition? We were OK with that regime doing all this on our behalf to extract info from "terror" suspects, and today we are funding actual terror groups to take over that same country. Do you think you will ever hear from thousands of detainees held without charge, ranging from children to elderly, in a country whose name may not be mentioned without deletion of my comment? Yes, go ahead and obey the "look here" from AJ and its sudden support of western agenda.
Now how can Sudan be addressed !
Im sorry but I find it a little odd that no one has been able to find anyone who worked in any of these facilities to get accurate details of these prisons to find these "Hidden" rooms
What did you show about the missing, the Assad Regime before ?!
Can’t find any! I’d appreciate some links! ☝🏻😎✨
Should investigate where this method of torturing and cruelty came from. Those warden got their training from somewhere another country and it should be revealed
Wow. Iran and Russia 😊backed a monster
Not surprised at all .
@bleb87 Iran and Russia are the big monsters.
The monster in the Middle is not a Middle Eastern country, because it is America. How many millions has America killed in the Middle East?
UNITED NATIONS MY FOOT
How can the UK support? ❤️
Lol. You are funny. Let the UK stay where it is, please.
I also want to know that the papers from the prison are being kept together and many copies made and a method for people to easily see them in the future
It seems as if the airstrikes shocks you more than the qruelty of asad's prison
I think all countries have such prison.
WITH THE SAME LEVEL OF CRUELTY, I DO NOT THINK SO.
It's same prison Saudi Arabia
Me as American I don't understand why people would do those things to other people don't they believe in God God sees everything
Rikers and saint quentin paradise
What is the situation in Rojava and what is the authorities in Syria do about Turkish invasion and treatment of the Kurds?
super
لا يجوز نشر فيديوهات فيها متبرجات احذف بارك الله لك
Would need to check Isreal prisons.
Rikers Island in the desert
what type of freedom are they fighting for?
Why Do a Few Counties Have These Issues and For Generations Together??? I wonder!!!
Democracy is not perfect; however, it is better than a dictatorship. Russia and Assad are guilty. Peace🙏🙏🙏
I m wondering, where are the military or prison officers? Why not ask them?
It's SOOO SAD 😔 what the Syrian people have gone through!! I pray that the Syrian people will find and except Jesus Christ. For he does want togive them hope and peace. Jesus Christ is the PRINCE OF PEACE ♥
If those human right organizations not seeing horror in Gaza its not accurate
Almost every human rights group sees the horror in Gaza and talk about it to the world. The UN too. And actually, most of the world are listening and are on the side of the Palestinians.
But the biggest power in the world let’s its proxy carry out these atrocities against the Palestinian people. So unless you have the power to stand up against the USA, you don’t have any chance.
Responsible are the racist governments of Israel, the USA, and most of Western countries. And most of their racist mainstream media. Nobody else.
Don’t blame human rights groups.
No torture prisons like this in Gaza.
I have a question, is there going to be a country that will stand up for the people that have suffered by Assad, or are people just going to carry on like nothing happened, will Israel help these people and send people there to dig up all the body's?
i only hope the new leasers don't continue this madness. given the fact they are directly from known terrorist groups, i am worried. if you know what those do... its pretty much the same.....
What did they do with the bodies? Are there mass graves? Crematoria?
Please inform condition of Israel jails
Thanks
did the people seem like people you could believe what they were telling you? did they have any reason to doubt what they were telling them?
Never seen Musliz protestig... never. Never seen one instagram post about these horrors. Why?
Who people could tolerate
All that really happened well God bless them people, but it seems like the new leader of Syria had found Jesus and he is born again without sin so everybody that he annihilated is OK to Al Jazeera
Can we get a look at America's prisons within the America and across the world? Before you make your predictable comments, you must also know that the US has more people, especially black people, in prison than the entire continent of Africa.
Let me say it differently, Nigeria has largest number of black people on the planet, but it has less than 10% of the number of black people tat the US has in its prison.
Please, I ask you, please present the facts of America's prison industry, especially where black people are concerned. And while you are doing that, do take the time show America's role in the destruction of Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Palestine, and Afghanistan.
In whatever you do, context is cruscial to telling the facts accurately.
@@IHZALewis there's a difference between a state of law in which you go to prison after a public trial and you are considered innocent till proved otherwise, and a regime in which you can go to prison just because you're suspected to be guilty of smth and without having the right to defend yourself. Think before making no-sense comparisons
Are you taking the fous off of Israel ? there prisons are the real torture of the world .
How would you know
I want to know how wealthy was Assad. Does anyone know what his investment are and where? My guess is that he probably has several foreign secret assets; bank accounts, etc. Who is in charge of Syria’s treasury and economy right now?
The banks were not secured,people walked in and walked out with bags of cash and jewelry and contents of people's valt boxes.😮
And yet, the Arab League voted to return Assad's regime to the League in May 2023?
AJ also won't tell you about the Syrians treated, and Syrian babies born in Israel during the civil war.
Seems like Evin prison in tehran
Good that Assad is no more the boss.
By the way have you heard about the today Netherlands news " some people that attacked Israel fans got up to 2 years "
and? you cant attack people even if it was "provoked" by a video online .....
tell me the Muslim country where torture is not practised? A Salafi country?
Malaysia. Maybe Oman, indonesisch, Bosnia,..
Make a movie
☪ Diriwayatkan bahawa Abu Hurairah berkata:
"Rasulullah bersabda: 'Kebanyakan azab kubur adalah kerana air kencing 💦.'" > 🌙
After Syria was liberated from Assad in come the vultures
He will be resurrected by Jesus Christ and you will see your father again❤
Assad imprisoned sunnis now sunnis will imprison shias. Nothing will change!
i guess you don't feel a little bit silly like girls giddy over a boyband when you see your leader and take a selfie with them. like being an excited girl who sees her boyband crush
What a ridiculous focus on Israel and the idf instead of the stories survivors have shared from the prison
Isreal is carrying its own mass murder and genocide. Do you not think that the world should be looking at what Israel is doing in Palestine?
USA army also tortured and killed prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail in Irak.
Other countries they're doing that to people to other countries
Compared to Sednaya Auschwitz concentration camp was 'meh', Guantanamo was 5 star.
With all the positivity happening in Syria and this situation you guys still have to find a way to slip away n some negativity towards Israel. Israel was disposing the chemical weapons so they couldn’t fall into the wrong hands and hurt anyone else - Syrian, Israeli, anyone.
Why would you start with Israel’s bombing when the title is about the Prison
Why is Israel bombing Syria? Syria has never bombed Isreal.
ok.. do you have the audacity to show whats inside prisons of other countries as well ?!!!
Did Iran and Hezbollah knew about it?
Russia too
Information Abt these prisoners were always public and known
But sadly nobody talked Abt it except syrians
Syria is Syrian land and why is Israel and USA meddling here. Taking land forcibly to make Great Israel is atrocious.
Bs