Palestinians tortured to death by Assad regime 

The number of Palestinians in Syria who have been tortured to death by the regime of Bashar Al-Assad has risen to 631, a rights group has revealed.

According to the data released by the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria (AGPS), the killings of an additional three Palestinian refugees residing in Syria have been documented since the beginning of this year. This brings the total number of Palestinians killed in regime prisons to 631 since the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011.

The Syrian security services, reported the AGPS, have sent the personal papers and documentation of dozens of the dead Palestinians to their families.

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Such numbers, however, are said to be just the tip of the iceberg. The statistics only account for the Palestinians who were confirmed to be tortured to death. Many more are believed to be unaccounted for due to the regime’s general concealment of the victims’ names and details.

The AGPS report comes almost a year after it was revealed by the group that over 1,800 Palestinians have been forcibly disappeared in Syria and languish in the regime’s vast prison network. It was also revealed in March last year that the regime had detained 110 Palestinian women in its prisons and had tortured at least 34 of them to death.

The plight of Palestinians in Syria, especially throughout the ongoing conflict, is seen by critics of the regime as evidence that contradicts Assad’s public support for the Palestinian cause and his state’s alleged opposition to Israel.

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