Adra Prison

Adra Prison

Location	northeast outskirts of Damascus, Syria
Coordinates	33.5901037°N 36.4404945°E / 33.5901037; 36.4404945
Status	defunct
Capacity	2,500
Population	7,000 (as of 2014)
Closed	2024
Notable prisoners
Anwar al-Bunni, Bassel Khartabil, Mas'ud Hamid, Haitham al-Maleh

Adra Prison (Arabic: سجن عدرا) was a prison in Syria, on the northeast outskirts of Damascus.^[1][2] Political prisoners are held in the prison, along with a mixture of civil prisoners such as traffic offenders, murderers, and drug dealers. In 2014, the prison held more than 7,000 inmates, a dozen of them women, in space designed for 2,500.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The Washington Post referred to the prison as "infamous".^[8]

History

Ghassan Najjar, an engineer who was imprisoned in 1980, reportedly went on two hunger strikes, one to protest conditions in the prison. His fellow inmates said he was beaten so badly by prison guards trying to force him to eat that he suffered spinal injuries.^[9]

Mas'ud Hamid, a Kurdish journalism student, was held in solitary confinement in the prison for one year from 2003 to 2004 before he was allowed monthly visits, and Human Rights Watch said that interrogators reportedly tortured him and beat him with a studded whip on the bottom of his feet.^[10] His room was 2 by 0.85 metres (6 ft 7 in × 2 ft 9 in), largely filled by a toilet in it.^[11]

In December 2004 Kurds in the prison conducted a hunger strike, which was allegedly halted by torture.^[12]

In March 2011, 13 prisoners at the prison, including 80-year-old former judge Haitham al-Maleh and lawyer Anwar al-Bunni began a hunger strike to protest government oppression and the holding of political prisoners.^[13]

On July 1, 2013, female detainees in the prison began hunger strike in response to negligence of their cases by the public prosecution of the Counterterrorism Court, and absence of approval of their respective trials.^[14]

As of December 2014, the jail was well beyond its 2,500 person capacity at over 7,000 prisoners of all types of accused offenders, from murderers to traffic violators.^[7]

In August^[15] and September 2015, Jaysh al-Islam shelled and stormed the prison, taking control of two buildings.^[16][17]

On December 7, 2024, the prison was liberated by the Syrian Free Army during the Fall of Damascus.^[18]

On December 13, 2024, the United States charged Samir Ousman Alsheikh with human rights abuses during the time that he ran the prison from 2005 to 2008.^[19]

Former prisoners

• Anwar al-Bunni
• Mas'ud Hamid
• Haitham al-Maleh
• Bassel Khartabil
• Ragheed al-Tatari

See also

• Tadmor Prison

References

1. Alan George (2003). Syria: neither bread nor freedom. Zed Books. ISBN 9781842772133. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
2. "Little hope for press freedom on eve of President Assad's second seven-year term". Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
3. Aziz Abu-Hamad, Andrew Whitley (1992). Throwing away the key: indefinite political detention in Syria. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 9781564320872. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
4. Khaled Yacoub Oweis. "Syrian authorities interrogate 78-year-old dissident". Reuters. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
5. "Syria authorities grill 78-year-old dissident". Kuwait Times. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
6. "Syria urged to transfer female prisoners". UPI.com. November 12, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
7. "Damascus' Adra prison massively overcrowded". Lebanon Daily Star. December 29, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
8. Rhonda Roumani (January 19, 2006). "Syria Frees 5 Political Activists". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
9. James A. Paul (1990). Human rights in Syria. Human Rights Watch. p. 61. ISBN 9780929692692. Retrieved June 14, 2011. Adra Prison.
10. Human Rights Watch (2005). Human Rights Watch False Freedom Online Censorship in the Middle East and North Africa. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
11. Human Rights Watch (2009). Far from justice: Syria's Supreme State Security Court. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 9781564324344. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
12. Robert Lowe (January 2006). "The Syrian Kurds: A People Discovered" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-29. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
13. Evans, Dominic. "13 prisoners in hunger strike action". Scotsman. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
14. Hassoun, Joud; Hashem, Fouad (July 1, 2013). "Female detainees begin hunger strike in Adra Prison". Syria Newsdesk. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
15. "Insurgents shell main prison near Syrian capital, killing 10". The Daily Star. 2015-08-23.
16. "11 dead in rebel shelling on Damascus: activists". The Daily Star. 2015-09-12. Archived from the original on 2017-08-12. Retrieved 2015-09-12.
17. "Rebels storm Syria's largest prison near Damascus: monitor". 2015-09-11. Archived from the original on 2015-10-05.
18. Loveluck, Louisa; Salim, Mustafa (2024-12-08). "As Syria's notorious prisons empty, families search for the missing". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
19. "US charges ex-head of Syrian prison with torture". France 24. Retrieved 2024-12-13.