Survivors of the ousted regime's prisons released live testimonies today, Saturday, at the Abu Rummanah Arab Cultural Center in Damascus, documenting the violations they endured, in a step aimed at opening avenues for accountability and achieving justice. The session was organized by the "Damascus and Surroundings Peaceful Movement Team 011," founded by activists in 2014, under the title "Live Testimonies Documenting Violations and Opening the Path Toward Justice and Accountability."
Documenting Psychological Violations and Confronting the Executioners
The two survivors, Fatima Shaaban and Helen Akou, detailed methods of systematic torture. Helen Akou was arrested in 2015 due to her humanitarian and media activities and spent 77 days at Branch 215 before being transferred to Adra Prison. Akou confirmed in a statement to SANA that she confronted the branch supervisor, Ahmed Mihoub Aliya, after regaining her freedom to convey the voices of the martyred women, which reopened deep psychological wounds but solidified the necessity of achieving justice.
Two Main Paths for Transitional Justice Support
Lina Al-Rifai, a member of the Peaceful Movement Team, explained to SANA Cultural that the organization operates according to flexible strategies based on two main paths: activating transitional justice mechanisms and raising community awareness of civil rights and duties. Al-Rifai noted that entrenching the culture of publicly listening to victims represents the fundamental pillar for building a new Syria based on respecting individual freedoms and purging legal structures of the remnants of tyranny.
Introducing Society to the Scale of Suffering and Violations
For her part, Salma Saif, director of the Survivors Association, pointed out that the primary goal of repeating these dialogue platforms is to provide an interactive space for survivors to convey their bitter experiences to public awareness and highlight the scale of the horrific violations faced by detainees. These activities align with the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and government plans aimed at cementing national peace and revealing the truth, transforming oral narratives into a permanent legal record that prevents the erasure of human memory.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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