Inside Syria’s notorious Palestine Branch: Tales of torture and fear

Damascus, Syria – “Palestine Branch”, also known as Branch 235, is an intelligence-run prison in Syria that everyone in the country feared and loathed.

The notorious building, which was built in 1969, became well-known for the Syrian regime’s systematic torture of its own citizens and its close-knit community.

The branch expanded in the 1980s, expanding from its original responsibilities to monitoring all matters involving Palestine and Palestine. By the time it was handling more files than any other branch, it was well known for its brutal torture practices and inhumane conditions.

During the early stages of the Syrian revolution, the branch was said to specifically target residents of Damascus’s southern districts, especially al-Midan, al-Qadam, Dafshok, and the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp.

Outside Palestine Branch, military trucks were parked haphazardly, mattresses, documents and pictures scattered on the floor along with military uniforms and boots left behind.

On December 8, 2024, the Syrian government fell, and opposition forces allowed prisoners to escape the grip of the regime, bringing gruesome accounts of torture and suffering.

The cells inside the branch share their experiences with those who traversed it. Every cell has cameras, and there are also fingernail-carved writing and drawings on the walls. leftover scabies ointment in one cell.

Because the sewage system failed, filling some corridors and cells with stagnant water, it is now difficult to move around the basement.

Also in the basement are the toilets, where guards would take detainees once a day, in the morning, beating and insulting them.

Abu Jaber, who was in cell seven, recounted the torture he endured in this branch, from the moment he entered: “They whipped us. The pain subsided for two days.

” After I left, I was afraid to pass near]our cell], even if it was on my way. To avoid it, I would take a more in-depth path.

According to the cell they were in, each detainee had a number. For example”, 33 on Group 2 “would indicate the 33rd detainee in the second group cell.

Source: Aljazeera