Rebels in Syria Discover Torture Victims' Bodies at Damascus Clinic

Family members recovered a portion of the bodies found at Harasta Medical Clinic after they were distinguished on Tuesday

Syrian radical warriors say they found 40 bodies in a morgue at a tactical clinic in a Damascus suburb. The bodies showed signs of torture after the defeat of President Bashar al-Assad.

Video and photos showed blood-stained white covers. They covered bodies in a refrigerated room at the Harasta emergency clinic on Monday.

A few bodies seemed to have wounds and swelling on their countenances and middles. Bits of sticky tape bearing numbers and names were also clear.

"I opened the funeral home's entryway with my own hands. It was a terrible sight," said Mohammed al-Hajj, a member of a radical group from southern Syria, to AFP.

A staff member told the dissidents about some bodies at the clinic. So, they went there.

"We told the [rebel] military order what we found. We coordinated with the Syrian Red Sickle. It shipped the bodies to a Damascus clinic for families to identify them."

The morgue staff's method of storing the bodies was unsatisfactory. They were at different stages of decay.

Salvage groups and family members of missing individuals looked through Saydnaya jail on Monday

The Syrian Observatory for Common Freedoms is a UK-based monitoring group. The report says Assad's jails tortured and killed nearly 60,000 people.

Since Assad's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011, basic liberties have disappeared. Over 100,000 people expressed them, but the civil war followed.

A Syrian non-legislative group said the bodies in Harasta were likely prisoners from the infamous Saydnaya jail, just north of Damascus.

"Harasta Medical Clinic was the main meeting place for families of prisoners," Diab Serriya, a founder of the ADMSP, told AFP.

"Authorities would send bodies there from Saydnaya jail or Tishrin Emergency Clinic." He added that they would move from Harasta to mass graves.

The Syrian Common Protection, known as the White Caps, reported the bodies. They had searched for potential prisoners in secret cells at Saydnaya jail but found no one.

On Monday, five groups, aided by two K9 units, checked all areas. They included the jail's design experts. They searched the structures, cellars, patios, ventilation shafts, sewage systems, and camera links. The groups gathered there, hoping to find their missing family.

"The search found no unopened or secret areas in the office," the Syrian Common Guard said.

"We share the disillusionment of the absent, large groups. Their fates are unknown," it added.

In the meantime, the ADMSP shared an authority report dated 28 October. The report stated that Saydnaya held 4,300 prisoners.

They held 2,817 legal prisoners in the jail's "White Structure." The "Red Structure" held 1,483 prisoners. They were charged with psychological warfare and military councils.

"The number is inexact. The ADMSP said it counts the prisoners it delivered when it freed the jail. The BBC could not check the data on time."

Rebels entered Saydnaya jail and Harasta clinic as they advanced into Damascus for the weekend. This forced President Bashar al-Assad to flee the country.

The ADMSP said in a 2022 report that Saydnaya "successfully turned into a concentration camp" after the beginning of Syria's civil conflict in 2011.

The assessment revealed that over 30,000 prisoners either faced execution or died due to torture, lack of medical care, or starvation at the facility between 2011 and 2018.

It also referred to delivered prisoners. They reported that authorities executed 500 more prisoners between 2018 and 2021.

Pardon Global considered Saydnaya jail a "human slaughterhouse" in a report charging that a great many individuals had been executed there

ADMSP showed how workers built "salt chambers." They were crude funeral homes. They stored bodies before moving them to the Tishreen Medical Clinic for military burials.

Absolution Global used "human slaughterhouse" to describe Saydnaya. They claimed the Assad government approved the executions. They called these practices atrocities against humanity.

The Assad government dismissed Absolution's cases as "unmerited" and "false." It demanded that all executions in Syria follow fair treatment.

On Monday, the head of the Islamist group that ended Assad's 24-year rule said to hold accountable those who had tortured political detainees.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani of HTS said he would share the authorities' names. People would search their homes for those who had escaped abroad. He added that they would offer prizes for information on their whereabouts.