One of the more notorious aspects of the Assad regime was the existence of multiple intelligence agencies that worked at least in part to monitor and suppress real and suspected opposition to the regime. Among these agencies was the Amn al-Dawla (“State Security”), more formally known as the General Intelligence Branch/Directorate.
As it happens, a person I know had been briefly imprisoned by State Security in Damascus at the time of the regime’s fall and was among a group of 1500 prisoners freed from the State Security prison by the downfall of the regime. In this conversation he speaks briefly about his experiences. Originally from Idlib province, he currently resides in the al-Sayyida Zaynab area of Damascus (home to a famous Shi‘i shrine: see Murtaza Hussain’s recent interesting dispatch where he visited the shrine).
What am i tell to you? I heard about the security apparatus but when I saw it for myself, I believed what I had heard.
I should add that this person was not pro-opposition at all, nor is he optimistic about Syria’s future under the new government. However, regardless of one’s views about the new government, it should be realised that the Assad regime had no intention of reforming the police state, and had it won the war, the environment would likely have become even more repressive.
The interview is slightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: Firstly can you briefly describe your life in the events?
A: I did compulsory service in the army, in a place where there were no battles. I was discharged in the ordinary way.
Q: I see. When were you arrested and what were the circumstances?
A: I was arrested for one month: I was arrested on 10 November 2024. The circumstances were difficult and humiliating. It was the first time I had been imprisoned. Just imagine: I could not bear one month. And now in fact I don’t have medicines to treat the middle ear, upon which the jailor struck me. What am i tell to you? I heard about the security apparatus but when I saw it for myself, I believed what I had heard.
Q: What was the pretext?
A: The pretext was that I am a terrorist because I was in contact with a childhood friend in Idlib.
Q: Did they torture you in prison?
A: Of course: this is a basic thing.
Q: What methods of torture?
A: Dulab, shabah and falaqa,* not to mention beating with hands. I was in a solitary confinement cell for a month. That is, I did not see anyone with my own eyes. They put a blindfold on you and undo it when they put you back in the cell. One meal per day only at lunchtime: rice or burghul with one and half rolls of bread. You have to eat this throughout the day.
Q: Oh dear. And did they try to get you to confess something?
A: Very much so, and I told many falsehoods so they would not hit me. My weight decreased by more than nine kilograms in one month: imagine that! I wasnot used to this, and never in my life did I even enter a police station.
Q: How did they know you were in contact with your friend?
A: Either through someone filing a report or through monitoring calls, because they took me from my house after checking my mobile. What am I to tell you? A catastrophe.
Q: On 8 December you were in prison?
I reached my family, who did not know from the outset where I was. Sir, it was like a dream: I did not sleep for 42 hours, because I could not believe it.
A: Yes. I got out from the prison at dawn. Civilians got us out and I had been sleeping at the time. The lieutenant colonel told me at around 10 p.m. tomorrow you have an interrogation. I told him: as you command, sir. I went and slept. I woke up- I don’t know at what hour. Because we don’t have hours or natural light. The time when they bring lunch is when we know it has become noon. I woke up to sounds like deep strikes. For we were on an underground floor. I no longer knew what was happening. I woke up at the door of the cell and spoke to those to me. I said to them: what’s going on? In a hushed voice of course. No one wanted to respond, because they were afraid, as it was forbidden for anyone to whisper with another. The noises became loud, and I know there was gunfire. I said: clashes must be taking place. I got ready to die, because they normally execute the prisoners.
A voice came from above: is anyone under there? I did not want to respond, nor did anyone next to me respond. The voice repeated: is there anyone under there? I rose, became emboldened and said to him: yes. And I began shouting. They heard and came down. I was watching from the edge of the small window at the door of the cell. They opened the door leading to the cells, and I saw them, and they opened the doors for us. I asked one of them with anxiety: what is going on? He told me: the dog has fallen. Of course I embraced him and took hold of his rifle on the basis that I was concerned, so that he could not execute me if he wanted. I headed to the interrogation room and took my ID card and my mobile the personnel had snatched from me. I took another rifle and placed it on my shoulder and left the administration. I found there were many civilians. I gave the rifle to someone so he could take me to the al-Sayyida Zaynab area on a motorbike. I reached my family, who did not know from the outset where I was. Sir, it was like a dream: I did not sleep for 42 hours, because I could not believe it.
Q: How do you feel about the situation in general now? Is Syria going to be better off without the Assad regime?
A: It’s all the same thing. The plan is the same in service of the enemy. I know in this way what will happen to the letter, going forward, by God’s permission. Nothing will improve. Da‘esh [Islamic State] is at the gates, so there can be a pretext for the Israelis to take the southern region, while the Turks take the north, the Americans the east, and the coastal region will be under the control of the Russians. This is our situation in Syria.
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* Arabic words that describe methods of torture: Dulab- placing the victim in a tire to beat him/her; Shabeh- hanging the victim from the ceiling; Falaqa- Beating the victim on the feet.
