I was referred to Sednayah prison on September 20, 2018. There we were received with beating as is the norm in the Red Building, then they put me in a solitary cell until 12 November, the same year.
August 27, 2020
Source: The Association of Detainees and The Missing in Sednaya Prison
My name is Muhab Salaheddin al-Qutainy. I was arrested on the third of January 2017 in “branch 290” of the Military Intelligence, I remained in this branch for 33 days. There were large numbers of detainees there, and torture is practiced by all means that can be imagined; beating, kicking and suspension.
In the fifth of February they moved me to “branch 248” in Damascus, which is the interrogation branch of the military intelligence. There, it was a little better than in Aleppo, crowds of prisoners were less, torture also. There were cameras in the dormitories, so discipline was better and the number of prisoners who die was less than in Aleppo.
During interrogation, the prisoner suffers all kinds of torture, suspension on foot for 48 to 72 hours, this depends on the interrogator’s decision. There was also the ill-famed suspension for one hour, the beating with the well-known PVC tube dubbed “Lakhdar Brahimi.” Food was very scarce and bad. Normally interrogation in this branch takes about 60 days which can be extended to 90 days for any inconveniences. I stayed there for a longer period because they kept all the detainees brought from hot spots to use in expected prisoner swapping operations.
I was referred to Sednayah prison on September 20, 2018. There we were received with beating as is the norm in the Red Building, then they put me in a solitary cell until 12 November, the same year.
The conditions were very bad, food was very scarce, not more than one loaf a day. Food was distributed in three meals; breakfast two pieces of olive and tea usually put on the floor of the cell. Lunch was either rice or bulgur with lentil soup or pasta sauce. It was unbearable so we always threw it away. Dinner was boiled potato. Door of the cell can be opened twice a day, the first for offering breakfast and the second for lunch and dinner together, served at noon.
The jailer was free to beat us any time, for any reason in addition to curses and terms of humiliation. He enjoyed that. We used to hear sounds of beating prisoners in the dormitories which I did not visit. I spent two months in the cell which was only 3 * 3 m with a toilet, with two prisoners. All we could do was eating and sleeping. Sleeping was prohibited in the day time, therefore we alternated periods of sleep due to the small size of the cell, and to alarm the two mates when the jailer comes.
Torture included beating and suspension. We used to hear those who were suspended without knowing where they were. Beating was up to the jailer who usually takes the prisoner out of the cell in the night to beat him, just for fun. They used to take us out of the cell for beating or for suspending us.
One prisoner was released before me, I followed him, leaving the third for his destiny. After Sednayah, they took me to the branch of the military police for five days, then to Adra prison for sixteen days, after which I was set free.
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