Civil War in Syria: The History of the Dead

Beirut: "That's it? Are you sure he's dead?"

Seven years had pbaded without news, but Salwa could hardly believe that his nephew, a Syrian activist arrested in 2011, had been dead for five years.

"Yes, we have received the names of all those who died in prison."

It is estimated that tens of thousands of people are held in Syrian regime prisons with relatives and lawyers who often say they are tortured, denied a fair trial, and denied contact with families.

Their loved ones are left in limbo, spending years and precious savings between security services to find out where their loved ones are or if they are still alive

. A number of families in different parts of Syria are informed of the death of their children in the Syrian regime's prisons by coincidence. One of them would publish official documents to discover that his detained son or his brother in a state prison was registered under the register of civil status

while the words began to spread. Bashar Al Assad ordered prisons and detention centers to update their records last month, but people never expected death certificates to reach them, and that they should now find, activists and families of jailed Syrians say the regime has quietly updated the civil registers to mark the detainees as "dead," antedating deaths in 2013.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights Male (SNHR) estimates that 80,000 Syrians have been "vanished" by the regime.

"Before, the regime did not give any details about the detainees. He would not declare them dead, "said the head of the Syrian Human Rights Network, Abdul Gani, to AFP." Now, but in a barbaric way. "

Registers of the Hama city was updated first, followed by Homs, the capital Damascus, Latakia and Hasakeh, and new names still arrive at the registers, said SNHR 19659003] In seven years of documentation on the uprising of Syria Became war, Abdul Gani said he has never seen families learn the fate of detainees in this way. "Usually, you bring a death certificate to the registry and you inform that your relative is dead, and not the only one. Inverse, "he said.

Death certificates were sent by the Ministry of the Interior to the Department of Civil Status Civil Registry Chapters in Different Cities.

certificates came mainly from Darayya, Ma & damiyeh and Hama prisons. Death certificates have been issued by military hospitals. Most former prisoners said that fractures and open wounds caused by brutal torture led to infectious diseases and death.

Other death certificates stated: "Based on the decision of" This means that they were executed after the decision of the high court.

Silent Condolences

Salwa and her sister-in-law feared to be the only people interviewed to imprisoned parents. "But when we got there, we saw a line at the door," she said.

"Most were women, mothers and sisters of detainees, security forces stood among them, and every woman wiped her tears and covered her face with her scarf."

crying, Salwa returned to hold a single day of condolences for two nephews: His "ad, arrested in 2011 Saeed, detained since 2012 and registered to have died last year.

The family had no bodies to bury and was afraid to cry publicly in a city held by the regime.

hearts – these two boys were like roses. Even in mourning, we are afraid and hide our sorrow, "says Salwa.

My son is at peace

The last time the family of Islam Dabbas saw him at the end of 2012, behind the bars near Damascus, 19659003] "We stopped hearing something after that," recalls his brother Abdul Rahman, who has since moved to Egypt.

This month, a parent still in Syria learned the updated files and verified Islam.He said that he died on January 15, 2013 in Saydnaya, "Abdul Rahman said.

"Honestly, it's a relief.My mother said:" He's lucky, he's at peace, "said Abdul Rahman

. their condolences for Islam last week in Egypt, hundreds of kilometers from home and without body.

The status of death is not enough, the body is necessary

According to Noura Gazi, Syrian lawyer and a member of the Families for Freedom detainee group, many suspected people are not enough. "OK, you told us that they are dead, but we want to know where the bodies are. We want to know the true way they died, "said Gazi, while others hesitate

" People are so tired. Of course, there is denial. Others are wary of saying, "Why would we believe this document is real? Or this date to be true? ", Said Gazi, who lives in Beirut.

Her husband, militant Bbadel Khartabil, disappeared after his arrest on October 3, 2015. In 2017, through his networks, Gazi confirmed his death in regime detention. 19659003] "I conveyed her condolences, I wore black, I thought I had treated the truth," she said.

That changed when a relative of Khartabil visited a Damascus register in early July and saw the date of the death of the scheme: October 5, 2015

we saw it, it's like he was dead again, "said Gazi. For more than two years, I fought to know his destiny. Now, I will fight all my life to get his body. "

The heaviest price paid in civil wars has been paid by families, who have been living in limbo for years and seeking answers to the fate of their beloved, kidnapped or dead

– With contributions from AFP