(Zaman Al Wasl)- “The country that violates its girls’ honour is not a homeland." This was the last thing said in an interview with Amal, 22, a girl who lost her virginity in Assad's prisons.
Amal, who is from the town of Rastan in central Homs province, was a student at the Faculty of Law at the University of Damascus. Her journey began after her fiancé, Majd, was subjected to harassment by Shabiha (pro-regime militia), in the Department of Electronic Engineering at the University of Damascus. He did not leave his city, and security forces shot him in a revolutionary demonstration in 2012. As a result, his family decided to send him for treatment in Turkey instead, fearing he would be killed in Syria. The young man insisted on marrying his beloved before leaving.
The period of the treatment in Turkey was prolonged and his return to Syria was not possible anymore, so both families decided to send Amal in early 2016, with a close family of two young men and a mother.
On the way, they were stopped at a National Defense militia checkpoint in the village of Arza in Hama province, called the al-Talae’i (Vanguards)checkpoint, which is under the command of Ahmed Darwish, known for his absolute loyalty to the Assad regime and for being the most famous among the leaders of the National Defense militia. From there, they were taken to a security headquarters. After discovering the young men’s intention to escape to Turkey so as not to enlist in the “army”, they beat the mother and killed her two sons before her. Then, the mother was subjected to "Shabah", a hanging position where her hands and feet are tied and she is suspended in the air for fourteen days. Amal was repeatedly assaulted and lost her virginity. When she tried to help the mother, they shaved her head and beat the mother until she was dead.
Amal was transferred to the military security branch in Hamah to investigate her, where she was indicted with several charges, most importantly spying for foreign countries, organizing demonstrations and fueling public opinion. Amal stayed in solitary confinement for three consecutive months until she marked her fingerprint on the confessions record. They then transferred her to the criminal security department in Hama, then a week later to Kafr Sousa police station, and then to the terrorist wing in Adra Central Prison, where we met her.
In Adra prison, Amal was overwhelmed with fear and panic. She was in shock and has become desperate. She did not believe that she would not be assaulted and beaten. She felt that she was in a constant nightmare, always wondering why she and the girl she met in prison were arrested. But her contact with her family helped her overcome her psychological crisis, and after their first visit, she was revived, filling the Terrorism Wing with a smile and happiness.
After her father paid one million and two hundred thousand Syrian pounds to a lawyer who had connections with the judges of the military judiciary, she got out of prison with the intention of leaving with no return, saying: "The country that violates its daughters is not a homeland."
*This torture memo was narrated by Aida Haj Youssif, former Syrian detainee.
Zaman Al Wasl
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