Warning: This article contains naturalistic details of torture
“We gave our blood and soul to the revolution,” chanted the crowds as Mazen Al-Hamada’s coffin was carried through the streets of Damascus, draped in the green, white and black flag adopted by protesters back in 2011, which is now everywhere in the city. after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
As the funeral procession progressed, more and more people joined it. “Mazen is a martyr,” many shouted, some cried.
If before this the world knew about the brutality of the Assad regime towards its own people, it was partly thanks to Mazen, an activist who was an outspoken critic of the regime.
On Sunday, his body was found in the notorious “slaughterhouse”, Seidnaya prison in Damascus. There were traces of terrible torture on him.
A doctor who examined him told the BBC that he had fractures, burn marks and contusions all over his body, allegations confirmed by Mazen’s family.
“It is impossible to count the wounds on his body. His face was smashed and his nose was broken,” said his sister Lamyaa.
Mazen al-Hamada, who participated in protests during the start of the uprising in Syria in 2011, was arrested and tortured. Released in 2013, he was granted asylum in the Netherlands. He began to speak openly about what he was subjected to in prison.
In Afshar Films’ documentary Syria’s Disappeared, Mazen describes how he was raped, his genitals clamped and his ribs broken as a guard repeatedly jumped on his chest.
