Assad regime has killed most forcibly disappeared, says rights group

Most of those forcibly disappeared in Syria have been killed by the Assad regime, the Syrian Network for Human Rights has claimed. The organisation’s CEO Fadel Abdul Ghany made the claim on Syria TV on Monday.

At least 112,713 people, including 3,105 children and 6,698 women, remain forcibly disappeared in Syria since the outbreak of the revolution in March 2011. Abdul Ghany made his statement at a time when efforts are ongoing in Syria to crack the codes of the electronic cell doors and uncover the hidden chambers at the notorious Sednaya Military Prison in Damascus.

Thousands of prisoners have been released from Sednaya, but some activists have reported that there are even more inmates there. Videos have spread on social media of attempts to break down the walls and ceiling to reach the prisoners, but these have failed so far.

Video footage circulated by Syrian activists showed bodies believed to be those of detainees from Sednaya Prison piling up in Harasta Hospital in Damascus.

Earlier on Monday, the director of the Syrian Civil Defence (the White Helmets), Raed Al-Saleh, announced that five specialist emergency teams are searching for possible secret doors or basements in Sednaya Prison.

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