Methodology

العربية

In April 2016, Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture travelled to Turkey to meet a group of survivors from Saydnaya prison. In recent years, no journalists or monitoring groups which report publicly have been able to visit the prison and speak with prisoners, so this was an opportunity to tell their stories.

As there are no images of Saydnaya, we were dependent on the memories of survivors to recreate what happened inside. Using architectural and acoustic modelling, we helped witnesses reconstruct the architecture of the prison and their experiences of detention.

The interview techniques were developed by Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London, in consultation with the university’s Forensic Psychology Unit.

1. Pre-interview

Before speaking with survivors, Forensic Architecture constructed a 3D model of Saydnaya prison, using written interviews conducted by Amnesty International researchers between December 2015 and February 2016 and satellite images of the building.

In April 2016, Forensic Architecture and Amnesty International interviewed five former detainees in Istanbul. Each conversation started with an explanation of the way the interview would be conducted and the technology employed. Each witness was told they could stop the process at any given moment.

2. Interviews

In April 2016, Forensic Architecture and Amnesty International interviewed five former detainees in Istanbul. Each conversation started with an explanation of the way the interview would be conducted and the technology employed. Each witness was told they could stop the process at any given moment.

3. 3D modelling

The witnesses described the cells and other areas of the prison, including stairwells, corridors, moving doors and windows, to an architect working with 3D modelling software. These new models were then compared to the model of the prison produced before the interviews. Witnesses helped the team to correct errors and refine the architecture of spaces within it.

4. Objects

We also asked witnesses to choose specific objects they remembered, such as blankets, bowls, furniture and torture tools, from a library we prepared in advance based on previous interviews. If an object wasn’t in the library, we were able to model it. Witnesses then located the objects on the model of the prison, according to their memory of where incidents took place.

5. Active participants

The witnesses were active participants in the building of the model, and the process sparked new memories of their experiences. As they measured rooms, located windows and doors, and placed objects in the virtual environment, they recalled more fragments of their life in detention.

6. Ear-witness testimony

Prisoners in Saydnaya developed an acute experience of sound, as what they could see was extremely restricted. There was next to no daylight, and detainees were made to cover their eyes with their hands whenever a guard entered the room. What’s more, speaking was prohibited, so prisoners became attuned to any minute sound. To capture these auditory memories, we developed techniques to solicit “ear-witness testimony” and reconstruct the prison’s architecture through sound:

  1. Witnesses listened to tones of different decibel levels, and were then asked to match them to the levels of specific incidents inside the prison.
  2. We used “echo profiling” to determine the size of spaces such as cells, stairwells and corridors. This involved playing different reverberations and asking witnesses to match them with sounds they remembered hearing in the prison.
  3. We also used “sound artefacts” to simulate prison sounds such as doors, locks and footsteps, which helped to generate further acoustic memories.

7. Contradictions

We cross-referenced the individual spatial and audio testimonies to construct an overall model of the building. If there were contradictions between different accounts we tried to carefully resolve them. We also made a note of the errors, as they reflect the subjective experience of a detainee and the mental trauma they experienced.

End the horror in Syrian prisons

The Syrian government must let in independent monitors to investigate Syria’s brutal detention centres, now.

Since 2011, thousands of people have died in custody in Syria’s torture prisons. Tens of thousands more have experienced shocking torture. People have been brutally beaten, raped, given electric shocks and more, often to extract forced “confessions”. Anyone suspected of opposing the Syrian government is at risk. Conditions in these brutal detention centres are sub-human. People are dying from starvation. They’re not getting even the most basic health care, and are dying from infected cuts and ingrown fingernails. They suffer acute mental health problems because of the overcrowding and lack of sunlight.

Send the message below and tell Russia and the U.S. to use their global influence to ensure that independent monitors are allowed in to investigate conditions in Syria’s torture prisons.

Dear Co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group,

I am writing about the ongoing reports by human rights monitoring groups, in particular Amnesty International, that document the widespread use of torture and other ill-treatment and lethal conditions in Syrian detention facilities.

Since the beginning of the crisis in 2011 the Syrian authorities have subjected tens of thousands of people in Syria to arbitrary detention or enforced disappearance. Many of them have been subjected to torture or other ill-treatment in Syria’s detention centres and thousands are reported to have died in custody as a result.

These practices clearly violate international law as well as the provisions of UN Security Council resolution 2139 and in many cases constitute war crimes. Insofar as they are carried out as part of a widespread, as well as systematic attack directed against the civilian population, they also amount to crimes against humanity.

I therefore call on you to use your influence in the International Syria Support Group to urgently ensure that independent detention monitors are allowed to investigate conditions in all detention facilities run by the Syrian government or its security forces. They must also be allowed to speak freely to all people who have been deprived of their liberty.

I urge you also to use your influence to ensure that the Syrian authorities provide detailed information on all those who are held in their custody, and inform the families of those detained about their legal status and whereabouts.

Yours sincerely

"It breaks the human": Torture, disease and death in Syria's prisons

Since 2011, thousands of people have died in custody in Syria’s prisons. Tens of thousands more have experienced shocking torture. Amnesty International spoke to survivors to document the brutal conditions.

Download report
العربية

End the horror in Syrian prisons

The Syrian government must let in independent monitors to investigate Syria’s brutal detention centres, now.

Since 2011, thousands of people have died in custody in Syria’s torture prisons. Tens of thousands more have experienced shocking torture. People have been brutally beaten, raped, given electric shocks and more, often to extract forced “confessions”. Anyone suspected of opposing the Syrian government is at risk. Conditions in these brutal detention centres are sub-human. People are dying from starvation. They’re not getting even the most basic health care, and are dying from infected cuts and ingrown fingernails. They suffer acute mental health problems because of the overcrowding and lack of sunlight.

Send the message below and tell Russia and the U.S. to use their global influence to ensure that independent monitors are allowed in to investigate conditions in Syria’s torture prisons.

Dear Co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group,

I am writing about the ongoing reports by human rights monitoring groups, in particular Amnesty International, that document the widespread use of torture and other ill-treatment and lethal conditions in Syrian detention facilities.

Since the beginning of the crisis in 2011 the Syrian authorities have subjected tens of thousands of people in Syria to arbitrary detention or enforced disappearance. Many of them have been subjected to torture or other ill-treatment in Syria’s detention centres and thousands are reported to have died in custody as a result.

These practices clearly violate international law as well as the provisions of UN Security Council resolution 2139 and in many cases constitute war crimes. Insofar as they are carried out as part of a widespread, as well as systematic attack directed against the civilian population, they also amount to crimes against humanity.

I therefore call on you to use your influence in the International Syria Support Group to urgently ensure that independent detention monitors are allowed to investigate conditions in all detention facilities run by the Syrian government or its security forces. They must also be allowed to speak freely to all people who have been deprived of their liberty.

I urge you also to use your influence to ensure that the Syrian authorities provide detailed information on all those who are held in their custody, and inform the families of those detained about their legal status and whereabouts.

Yours sincerely

English

ضعوا حداً للرعب في سجون سوريا

يجب على الحكومة السورية أن تسمح لمراقبين مستقلين بالتحقيق الآن في الفظاعات التي تشهدها مراكز الاعتقال.

منذ عام 2011، لقي آلاف من المعتقلين حتفهم في السجون السورية بسبب التعذيب، كما عانى عشرات الآلاف تعذيباً مروعاً. لقد تعرض المحتجزون إلى ضرب مبرح، واغتصاب، وصدمات كهربائية، والكثير من أنواع التعذيب؛ بهدف انتزاع "اعترافات" قسرية منهم. فكل شخص يُشتبه في أنه معارض للحكومة السورية، يكون عرضة للخطر.

الأوضاع الوحشية السائدة في مراكز الاحتجاز تفتقر إلى أبسط الشروط الإنسانية اللائقة. فالمحتجزون يتعرضون للموت بسبب الجوع، ولا يحصلون على الخدمات الصحية الأساسية. كما يموتون بسبب الالتهابات الناجمة عن الجراح التي يُصابون بها، وبسبب الأظافر الطويلة التي تنمو في أصابعهم. إنهم يعانون مشكلات صحية عقلية حادة بسبب الاكتظاظ ونقص التعرض لأشعة الشمس.

ابعثوا برسالة إلكترونية تحثوا فيها روسيا والولايات المتحدة على استخدام نفوذهما في العالم، وضمان السماح لمراقبين مستقلين بالتحقيق في طبيعة الأوضاع السائدة في السجون السورية، والتي يتعرض فيها المعتقلون إلى التعذيب.

السادة قادة المجموعة الدولية لدعم سوريا
تحية طيبة وبعد ...

أكتب إليكم استجابة للتقارير المتواترة التي تصدرها المنظمات المعنية بحقوق الإنسان بشأن أوضاع السجون والمعتقلات في سوريا، ولاسيما منظمة العفو الدولية، والتي تُوَّثق استخدام التعذيب على نطاق واسع وأنواع أخرى من سوء المعاملة والأوضاع السيئة التي تقود إلى موت المعتقلين.

منذ بدء الأزمة في عام 2011، تعرض عشرات الآلاف من السوريين إلى الاعتقال التعسفي والاختفاء القسري على يد السلطات. وذكرت التقارير بأن آلافاً من المعتقلين ماتوا خلال الاحتجاز نتيجة لذلك.

هذه الممارسات تنتهك بكل وضوح القانون الدولي، وبنود قرار مجلس الأمن التابع للأمم المتحدة رقم 2139. وفي عدة حالات، تشكل جرائم حرب. وترقى هذه الممارسات أيضاً إلى جرائم ضد الإنسانية بسبب اتساع نطاقها، واعتدائها الممنهج على السكان المدنيين.

ولهذا السبب، أدعوكم لاستخدام نفوذكم في المجموعة الدولية لدعم سوريا من أجل السماح لمراقبين مستقلين، بشكل عاجل، بالتحقيق في الأوضاع السائدة في مراكز الاعتقال التي تديرها الحكومة السورية أو أجهزتها الأمنية. ويجب أيضا أن يسمح لهم بالاتصال، بدون قيد أو شرط، بالمعتقلين الذين حُرموا من حرياتهم.

أحثكم أيضاً على استخدام نفوذكم لضمان تقديم السلطات السورية معلومات مفصلة بشأن جميع المعتقلين لديها، وإخبار عائلاتهم بخصوص أوضاعهم القانونية وأماكن احتجازهم.

وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام