Adra Prison ( ar, سجن عدرا) is a prison in Syria, on the northeast outskirts of
Damascus.
Political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their politics, political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, al ...
s 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.
''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' referred to the prison as "infamous".
History
Ghassan Najjar, an engineer who was imprisoned in 1980, reportedly went on two
hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
s, 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.
Mas'ud Hamid Massoud Hamid is a Kurdish Syrian journalism student. He took photographs of a pro-Kurdish event.
Biography
Hamid received a three-year prison sentence. Hamid was held in solitary confinement in Adra Prison for one year from 2003–04 before he was ...
, a
Kurd ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...
ish journalism student, was held in
solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use addit ...
in the prison for one year from 2003–04 before he was allowed monthly visits, and
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...
said that interrogators reportedly tortured him and beat him with a studded whip on the bottom of his feet. His room was , largely filled by a toilet in it.
In December 2004 Kurds in the prison conducted a hunger strike, which was allegedly halted by torture.
In March 2011, 13 prisoners at the prison, including 80-year-old former judge
Haitham al-Maleh and lawyer
Anwar al-Bunni
Anwar al-Bunni ( ar, أنور البني, born 1959) is a Syrian human rights lawyer who has defended clients such as Riad al-Turk, Riad Seif, the owner of ''The Lamplighter'', (an independent newspaper shut down by the Syrian government), Ku ...
began a hunger strike to protest government oppression and the holding of political prisoners.
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.
As of December, 2014, the jail is well beyond its 2,500 person capacity at over 7,000 prisoners of all types of accused offenders, from murderers to traffic violators.
In August and September, 2015,
Jaysh al-Islam
Jaysh al-Islam ( ar, جيش الإسلام, Jayš al-ʾIslām, meaning ''Army of Islam''), formerly known as Liwa al-Islam ( ar, لواء الإسلام, links=no, Brigade of Islam), is a coalition of Islamist rebel units involved in the Syrian Civ ...
shelled and stormed the prison, taking control of two buildings.
Current prisoners
*
Anwar al-Bunni
Anwar al-Bunni ( ar, أنور البني, born 1959) is a Syrian human rights lawyer who has defended clients such as Riad al-Turk, Riad Seif, the owner of ''The Lamplighter'', (an independent newspaper shut down by the Syrian government), Ku ...
*
Mas'ud Hamid Massoud Hamid is a Kurdish Syrian journalism student. He took photographs of a pro-Kurdish event.
Biography
Hamid received a three-year prison sentence. Hamid was held in solitary confinement in Adra Prison for one year from 2003–04 before he was ...
*
Haitham al-Maleh
Former prisoners
*
Bassel Khartabil
See also
*
Tadmor Prison
References
{{Damascus
Prisons in Syria
Torture in Syria
Damascus
Protest tactics