New videos shared by rebels as they freed prisoners have revealed an "iron press" that was allegedly used to crush and execute inmates in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's notorious Saydnaya Prison. The chilling videos and photos of the torture chambers have left people shocked
The prison near Damascus —known as the "Human Slaughterhouse"—has become synonymous with brutal torture, executions, and human rights violations carried out by the Assad regime, which was overthrown by Syrian rebel forces this past weekend. Amnesty International claims that dozens of people were secretly executed each week in Saydnaya, with estimates suggesting that as many as 13,000 Syrians were killed there between 2011 and 2016.
Assad's Death Chamber
Footage showing what appears to be a large hydraulic press inside the prison has yet to be confirmed, but reports of torture, deprivation, starvation, and executions at Saydnaya have been extensively documented.
Syrian rebels are now racing against time to free thousands of prisoners believed to be trapped in hidden cells deep underground. While many prisoners have already been released by the rebels, thousands more are said to be locked in sealed cells several stories below the main prison structure.
These lower levels are locked with special mechanisms and electronic keypads, accessible only through a complex network of tunnels.
The Damascus Countryside Governorate claims that CCTV footage shows the prisoners, but there are growing concerns that they may soon "choke to death" if the cells lack ventilation.
Authorities estimate that around 100,000 people are trapped beneath the prison, although this figure has not been independently verified.
Syria's "White Helmets" civil defense group announced on X that it has dispatched "specialized emergency teams," supported by a guide familiar with the prison's layout, to assist the rebels in rescuing the detainees.
As Syria's rebels advanced toward the capital city last week, they prioritized freeing prisoners from every prison they came across, claiming that most of the inmates were political prisoners held by the Assad regime.
Over the past 10 days, insurgents have liberated detainees in cities such as Aleppo, Homs, Hama, and Damascus. Footage widely shared online has shown rebels "opening cells one by one" by smashing through walls, with reports stating that they have freed "hundreds of prisoners, including women and young children."
The Biggest Hellhole
At Saydnaya, the horror faced by the detainees was clear when the rebels arrived. Women prisoners, some of whom had given birth to children while behind bars, screamed in relief as men forced open the locks on their cell doors.
Some prisoners appeared hesitant to leave their cells, fearful of potential retaliation, while one man, freed from the prison, was unable to respond when asked his identity.
"Don't be afraid—Bashar Assad has fallen! Why are you afraid?" a rebel was heard shouting in one video as he urged groups of women to leave their overcrowded, cramped cells.
Syria's prisons are notorious for their brutal conditions. Human rights organizations, whistleblowers, and former detainees report that torture is widespread and systematic.
Secret executions have been documented at over two dozen Syrian intelligence facilities and other detention sites.
In 2013, a defector from the Syrian military, known as "Caesar," smuggled over 53,000 photographs, which human rights advocates claim provide undeniable evidence of pervasive torture, along with disease and starvation in Syria's detention centers.
Syria's infamous security forces and prison system were not only used to suppress Assad's opponents but also to create a climate of fear among the general population, according to Lina Khatib, Associate Fellow at the Middle East and North Africa program of the London-based think tank Chatham House.
