PHOTO: “My friend Waseem Abu Zenah, a genius Palestinian programmer was offered a job at Google’s Middle East office. He was arrested at university and killed under torture.”


I have long followed “Putintin” on Twitter. I do not know his real name, but I know from his biography and his posts that he — “proud to be Syrian guy” — is opposed to the Assad regime, the Islamic State, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Chelsea fans. I also know that he is one of the shrewdest observers of the six-year conflict whom I have encountered.

What I did not know until Tuesday is that Putintin is also a survivor of the Assad regime’s prisons. I learned this when he wrote passionately on Twitter in response to an Amnesty report that described the systematic killing of between 5,000 and 13,000 detainees in the “human slaughterhouse” of Sednaya Prison between September 2011 and December 2015.


Reading the Amnesty report reminds me of the five months — over two occasions — that I spent in regime prisons (branches 235 and 215 in Damascus).

The systematic and punctual schedule of torture, execution, and beating is what kills the detainees everyday and makes them feel so hopeless. Wake up, stand to make space for another to sleep, eat moldy food, taken to interrogation, beaten, electric shocks, hanged by legs, back to cell.

Trying to think of what to say tomorrow (can’t snitch on friends), thinking of how to stop bleeding of a 16-year-old boy sodomized with a stick. I failed and he died, try to remember his family details (what was his father;s name?) sleeping, dreaming of sweet death, making space for others.

Thinking what went wrong (all this just to stop corruption and have free elections?), eat two bread loaves (hooray a win), torture, passing out.

Telling someone my family details (who will leave first of us?). Two people fighting for a space (both already bleeding). Trying to sleep.

Back to cell, sleeping. Cockroachs all over my body (i envy them) and so days go until I’m meeting judge accusing me of terror. Sign papers.

Given back ID and released, haven’t seen the sun for weeks, no taxi for home (smell like shit), roaming the streets and people looking at me.

If you think we (ex-detainees) will ever forget and let the regime go unpunished, then you are wrong. Eye for an eye. Putin is not here forever.

My mission was telling families, searched a lot and shared bad news (no good news that someone still living this). At least people had closure.

I saw the father of that 16 year-old kid. I told him his son attacked guards (I lied) and got killed. He said, “I always knew he is brave.” (Was I wrong?)

I was 63 kg [139 lbs.] before and 34 [75 lbs.] when I was released with several broken ribs and fingers, dislocated shoulder, concussion, scabies, and six electric burns. Second time in Palestine branch (resistance, huh?) was much worse (double everything). I survived with a failed kidney and nearly blind in my left eye.

No, I don’t accept [anyone] to be tortured even when armed opposition commit this (they did). Any human being can’t accept this.

Those who are pro-Assad have seen this for five years, but still accept it and cheer it, aren’t human at all. They are parasites who follow their evil terrorist Assad.

The 16 year-old kid was from a small village near Marj al-Sultan airbase in East Ghouta [northeast of Damascus]. He was making funny comments during a Baath ideology class, and outside the school he was also saying childish stuff. He was arrested inside the school — a female teacher came with officers and took five kids.

My friend Waseem Abu Zenah, a genius Palestinian programmer, was offered a job at Google’s Middle East office. He was arrested at university and killed under torture. Waseem was from al-Yarmouk camp in Damascus. He opened his own business in programming. He was arrested while he was receiving a certificate at university.

Another friend, Fadi Murad, an artist from Homs, was killed under torture in 2014.