Prisoners in Syria have accused the Bashar Assad regime of using the threat of imprisonment as a tool for extorting money from its citizens. Although a mass amnesty was declared two weeks ago, the regime still continues to release prisoners in exchange for money.
Mohammad Shilash, 26, who was detained for three years in the prisons of the Assad regime in Syria and was subjected to various kinds of torture, stated that the regime used the "detainee file" as a tool to extort money from their families. He said that despite the so-called amnesty law announced two weeks ago, he was released after paying a large amount of money to the regime.
Shilash, who lives in the town of Sor in the Deir el-Zour province of Syria, decided to leave the country to work in Lebanon in 2019, after his financial situation deteriorated due to the war.
Planning to cross into Lebanon without being caught by the regime forces, Shilash and his friends made a deal with a human smuggler.
His dream of Lebanon came to an end when he was detained by the regime forces at the meeting point with the smuggler in the capital, Damascus.
Shilash and his entourage remained in regime prisons for three years.
After footage of the "Tadamon Massacre" surfaced, the regime announced the so-called amnesty law on April 30.
According to the latest figures released by the Syrian Human Rights Network (SNHR), which documents human rights violations against civilians, the Assad regime, which detained at least 132,000 Syrians, released only 476 people with the ostensible amnesty law.
Shilash, who gained his freedom by giving a bribe despite the pardon, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that he lived in the regime dungeons for three years and spoke about the background of his release.
Stating that he was detained without any charges, he said: "We thought we would be free in two days. Then another team came and took us to a different unit. Our eyes were closed. They put us in single cells. We were in fear, at that moment we realized that we had fallen into the hands of the General Intelligence Directorate."
Stating that he was carrying his younger relative's identity card to avoid being drawn into the ranks of the regime forces in case of capture, Shilash said he told them everything out of fear during the interrogation and confessed that the identity did not belong to him.
"The identity issue made things worse. They accused me of being Iraqi. After that, the tortures began. With torture, I confessed everything they wanted. There I was subjected to beatings and torture for about 1 1/2 months. I was subjected to humiliation and unspeakable curses," he explained.
They were transferred to a prison in Damascus about 1 1/2 months after their first detention. Shilash explained the torture he experienced there as follows: "I was taken to a 3-meter (9.84-foot) wide cell in the prison. There were many people in the tiny cell. There was no place to sit. After two days, we were transferred to single cells. We had no rights. They tortured without question. We were hanging from the ceiling by our arms. This was the worst of the tortures. While we were in this state, they would pour water on us and hit us. Torture usually took place after midnight. We were used to the tortures by then. These tortures continued for months. We couldn't go to the toilet. We had to meet our needs where we were held. We would be left hungry. They would give three olives and a piece of bread. They only gave cheese once a week and they would soil that too."
Underlining that people were constantly getting sick due to the bad conditions in prison and that adequate health services were not provided in prison, he said: "Dozens of people died from torture, disease and filth. People would get sick from filth and die in a short time. They would not remove the corpses until they decomposed. They would burn most of the corpses. I thought I would suffer the same fate. I never thought I would be free."
He stated that the so-called amnesty law announced by the Assad regime about two weeks ago is a plot. "Finally, an amnesty was issued, but despite this, my family paid millions of Syrian pounds for my release. Despite the pardon, families still pay millions of lira in bribes. Those in charge of prisons have turned our situation into a business. They extort big money from families."
"They accused me of terrorism in these three years. I've never been to court. I was always accused of terrorism and tortured. I'm still in shock from the bad things I've been through. After being released, I feel like I'm in a dream. It's like I'm in another world," he said.
Stating that he returned to his village in Deir el-Zour after paying for his release, Shilash expressed that he was happy to be reunited with his family about two weeks ago.
"I hope the other prisoners in the prison where I spent the most disgusting days of my life will be released," he said.
A crowd of hundreds waited in the center of the capital Damascus, with dozens camping out overnight holding a vigil that their missing family might be among those to be safely returned.
Assad has issued several amnesty decrees during the country's devastating 11-year war, which broke out after the regime cracked down on mostly peaceful protesters.
But human rights activists said the recent release is the most comprehensive in relation to terrorism charges.
The new decree calls for "granting a general amnesty for terrorist crimes committed by Syrians" before April 30, 2022, "except for those leading to the death of a person."
Half a million people have been detained in regime prisons since the start of the war, with about 100,000 dying either under torture or due to poor detention conditions, according to the observatory.
Activists also accuse the regime of torturing detainees to death, of rape, sexual assaults and extrajudicial executions.