Assad Intelligence rape female detainees over Hunger strike

National coalition stated today about leaked information about sexual abuse by Security Intelligence against female detainees in Damascus Central Prison of Adra.

  National Coalition condemned the barbaric sexual abuse by elements of the Air Force Intelligence against detainees of the women prison after 5 days of hunger strike.  

The Syrian National Coalition called on the international community and human Rights organizations to take act in releasing the opinion prisoners. 

Assad's forces have used sexual violence to torture men, women, and boys detained during the current conflict. Witnesses and victims told Human Rights Watch that soldiers and pro-government armed militias have sexually abused women and girls.

 Many of the former detainees told Human Rights Watch that they were imprisoned because of their political activism, including for attending protests. In other cases, the reason for the detention was unclear but detainees suffered the same abusive tactics.

“Syrian security forces have used sexual violence to humiliate and degrade detainees with complete impunity,” Human Rights Watch said. “The assaults are not limited to detention facilities – government forces and pro-Assad Shabiha militia members have also sexually assaulted women and girls during home raids and residential sweeps.” 

Rights groups and opposition activists have long claimed that civilians have been detained arbitrarily, tortured, and sometimes have disappeared since the uprising against Assad’s regime began. HRW’s findings appear to be one of the largest finds of physical evidence bolstering those claims to date.

“The documents, prison cells, interrogation rooms, and torture devices we saw in the government’s security facilities are consistent with the torture former detainees have described to us,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director for HRW.