Under the banner of "democracy," the SDF militia practices a dictatorial policy, imprisoning thousands of innocent civilians in its prisons in Raqqa. In addition to journalists, activists, and opposition figures, there are also former Free Syrian Army fighters among those detained.
Their arrests are based on malicious reports from informants known as "sources," who write these reports for financial gain, thus increasing the number of innocent people facing an undeserved fate.
Despite the claims of the "Syrian Democratic Forces," led by the Syrian Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), to be democratic, detainees have no hope of release except by paying thousands of dollars. This reflects the corruption of the judicial system in this region, where judges and lawyers are only concerned with profiting at the expense of their victims. The situation in SDF prisons is strikingly similar to the practices of the former regime in terms of torture, corruption, and abuse of power.
This report reviews the prisons administratively affiliated with Raqqa Governorate, including their number, geographical locations, type, total capacity, the number of detainees held, their conditions, and some of the supervisors. The information reveals that there are three security prisons.
Security Prisons and Torture Centers
- Ayed Prison (Security)
This interrogation center is located at the entrance to the city of Tabqa on the Aleppo highway. It holds more than 2,400 detainees, including journalists, activists, opposition members, and former Free Syrian Army fighters. Testimonies from former detainees confirm that they were subjected to systematic physical and psychological torture, including electric shocks, suspension ("ghosting"), and forced nudity. In addition, prisoners are sometimes deliberately deprived of food and water. All rooms are dark and without electricity, and detainees are not allowed outside in the sun, so they lose track of time, and diseases are rampant.
- Intelligence Prison (Security)
This prison is described as a place where "those who enter are lost, and those who leave are reborn." The prison is a purely security facility, and all its supervisors are Kurdish intelligence officers. It is located beneath the National Hospital, behind the Internal Security headquarters in Raqqa city.
- Abu Ghazaleh Prison (Security)
Known as a security prison, it is supervised by Kurdish intelligence and is located beneath the Euphrates Dam near the Tabqa area.
Overcrowded Central Prisons
- Al-Aqtan Prison
Located within the Al-Aqtan Center, north of Raqqa Governorate (15 km). Its design is modeled after Saydnaya Prison, and it includes three wings, 20 solitary confinement cells, and 48 dormitories. Its total capacity is 2,300, but it currently houses 3,000 detainees. It is a prison for those sentenced to 15 years to life imprisonment. It is supervised by officers with the rank of captain, namely "Kibara Afrin" and "Bashar." Although the international coalition visits it periodically due to the integration of ISIS prisoners and civilians, conditions there are deplorable. Detainees are subjected to torture and denied family visits, and disease, including scabies, is rampant.
- Al-Taamir Prison
Located within Raqqa city, 200 meters north of Basil Roundabout. It comprises 10 solitary confinement cells and 32 dormitories. Its total capacity is 1,300, but it currently holds approximately 1,800 detainees. The prison is under the jurisdiction of the Executive Council and the Internal Security Forces, all of whom are Kurds. Haroun Afrin and Mahyou oversee the prison. In 2024, a prison riot occurred, resulting in the deaths of 10 inmates.
- Juvenile Detention Center
Located next to the former train station (200 meters east of Al-Tawmin Roundabout). It is supervised by officers with the rank of captain, Farhad Afrin and Dighoul. It contains 7 solitary confinement cells and 7 dormitories. Its total capacity is 250, but it currently houses approximately 600 detainees, including children. It is a former police station that has been converted into an interrogation center for multiple branches, in addition to holding prisoners serving sentences of 5 to 7 years. The treatment there is extremely poor, with widespread disease and scabies, inadequate food, and a lack of healthcare. Prisoners are allowed only half an hour of fresh air each week. A riot occurred there in 2024, during which 5 people were killed.
- Tabqa Central Prison (Church)
Located within the Tabqa region. It witnessed a prison riot in recent months due to the injustice and torture suffered by detainees and the corruption of the Tabqa courts.
- 17th Division Prison
Located 5 km north of Raqqa Governorate, within the 17th Division compound. It is a prison run by the Military Police, and its detainees are military personnel affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
- Raqqa Central Prison
The Raqqa Central Prison, which was located next to the grain silos at the northern entrance to Raqqa city under the bridge, has been closed, and its prisoners have been transferred to the Cotton Prison.
Rural Detention Centers
These prisons are ostensibly detention centers holding dozens of detainees, but in reality, they are extortion centers where bribes are paid or individuals are transferred to central prisons for trial.
- Hazima Prison
Located 25 km north of Raqqa, within the town of Hazima in northern Raqqa Governorate.
- Al-Karama Prison
Located 30 km east of Raqqa city, in the town of Al-Karama on the main road.
- Al-Mansoura Prison
Located 30 km west of Raqqa Governorate, within the Al-Mansoura subdistrict.
- Al-Jarniya Prison
Located 80 km west of Raqqa Governorate.
The prisons in Raqqa city represent a model that reveals the blatant human rights violations committed by the SDF in the areas under its control, amidst the silence of international human rights organizations and the absence of media coverage to report on the testimonies of prison survivors and their suffering.
Ammar Al-Hamidi - Zaman Al-Wasl
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