Published : 02-05-2022
Palestinian prisoners in Syria and their families have been deprived of the joy of Eid in the war-torn country, where thousands of civilians have been killed and thousands more have fallen prey to enforced disappearance.
Over 1,790 Palestinian refugees, including minors and women, have been held behind Syria’s prison bars.
“We have not celebrated Eid for years. We miss our father so much”, said a prisoner’s son who spoke with AGPS on condition of anonymity. “I always dreamt of reuniting with my father who was kidnapped at a checkpoint in Rif Dimashq in 2015. I wish my father would knock at the door and hug me tight, so tight”.
“After watching the new video I lost hope”, he said, referring to a footage published by the Guardian on Thursday showing a massacre taking place in Tadamon, near Syria’s capital Damascus, in April 2013, and claiming the lives of 41 people, including three Palestinian refugees.
The three refugees are Wasim Omar Seyam, Sa’id Ahmad Khatab, Abd Luay AlKubra, residents of Yarmouk Camp, south of Damascus. The piece published by the Guardian was called “Massacre in Tadamon: how two academics hunted down a Syrian war criminal,” and written by Middle East correspondent Martin Chulov.
The British newspaper reported that the mass grave contained at least 41 bodies following the massacre. The bodies were then doused with fuel and set alight. In the video footage, soldiers could be heard laughing. The massacre took place just a few miles from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s seat of power.
Umm Marwan, a Palestinian refugee woman residing in Sweden, said her son has been detained since 2013. “I’ve never thought that extra-judicial execution could turn into a systematic retaliation weapon. I’ve spent a lot of money and left no stone unturned to identify my son’s condition and whereabouts, but to no avail”.
“I’ve been told he was executed in prison; But I still can’t believe my eyes. My son is innocent”, she said with tears in her eyes. “However, after I watched the recent video of AlTadamon massacre I became almost sure that my son, a 1st year university student, was cold-bloodedly executed.”
Another Palestinian refugee from Yarmouk Camp told AGPS: “Regime officers deployed at military checkpoints are monsters. None of us could utter a word or use the mobile phone at those checkpoints. Imagine that a smile could be a reason for detention and even murder.”
According to AGPS data, 101 Palestinian refugees have been subjected to extra-judicial execution since the outburst of Syria’s warfare until April 30, 2022.
Affidavits by ex-detainees continue to provide evidence on the involvement of Syrian government officers in harsh torture tactics, including electric shocks, heavy beating using whips and iron sticks, and sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees, in a flagrant violation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, commonly known as the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT).
AGPS continues to urge the Syrian government to disclose the fate of scores of Palestinians held in its lock-ups, release the bodies of those tortured to death, to seriously work on halting harsh torture tactics, launch fact-finding probes into crimes of torture, and to bring those involved in such crimes before courts.
Palestinian prisoners in Syria and their families have been deprived of the joy of Eid in the war-torn country, where thousands of civilians have been killed and thousands more have fallen prey to enforced disappearance.
Over 1,790 Palestinian refugees, including minors and women, have been held behind Syria’s prison bars.
“We have not celebrated Eid for years. We miss our father so much”, said a prisoner’s son who spoke with AGPS on condition of anonymity. “I always dreamt of reuniting with my father who was kidnapped at a checkpoint in Rif Dimashq in 2015. I wish my father would knock at the door and hug me tight, so tight”.
“After watching the new video I lost hope”, he said, referring to a footage published by the Guardian on Thursday showing a massacre taking place in Tadamon, near Syria’s capital Damascus, in April 2013, and claiming the lives of 41 people, including three Palestinian refugees.
The three refugees are Wasim Omar Seyam, Sa’id Ahmad Khatab, Abd Luay AlKubra, residents of Yarmouk Camp, south of Damascus. The piece published by the Guardian was called “Massacre in Tadamon: how two academics hunted down a Syrian war criminal,” and written by Middle East correspondent Martin Chulov.
The British newspaper reported that the mass grave contained at least 41 bodies following the massacre. The bodies were then doused with fuel and set alight. In the video footage, soldiers could be heard laughing. The massacre took place just a few miles from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s seat of power.
Umm Marwan, a Palestinian refugee woman residing in Sweden, said her son has been detained since 2013. “I’ve never thought that extra-judicial execution could turn into a systematic retaliation weapon. I’ve spent a lot of money and left no stone unturned to identify my son’s condition and whereabouts, but to no avail”.
“I’ve been told he was executed in prison; But I still can’t believe my eyes. My son is innocent”, she said with tears in her eyes. “However, after I watched the recent video of AlTadamon massacre I became almost sure that my son, a 1st year university student, was cold-bloodedly executed.”
Another Palestinian refugee from Yarmouk Camp told AGPS: “Regime officers deployed at military checkpoints are monsters. None of us could utter a word or use the mobile phone at those checkpoints. Imagine that a smile could be a reason for detention and even murder.”
According to AGPS data, 101 Palestinian refugees have been subjected to extra-judicial execution since the outburst of Syria’s warfare until April 30, 2022.
Affidavits by ex-detainees continue to provide evidence on the involvement of Syrian government officers in harsh torture tactics, including electric shocks, heavy beating using whips and iron sticks, and sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees, in a flagrant violation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, commonly known as the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT).
AGPS continues to urge the Syrian government to disclose the fate of scores of Palestinians held in its lock-ups, release the bodies of those tortured to death, to seriously work on halting harsh torture tactics, launch fact-finding probes into crimes of torture, and to bring those involved in such crimes before courts.
