Fasting Behind Bars: Former detainees reveal brutality of defunct regime’s prisons

2026-03-08 - 10:28

Damascus, March 8 (SANA) Behind bars, the defunct Syrian regime showed no respect for the sanctity of Ramadan, subjecting detainees to severe psychological abuse during exhausting fasts and extreme hunger. Former detainees said they were forced to endure spoiled food and contaminated water, while even their most basic rights to worship were denied. Testimonies from former detainees under the ousted regime, obtained by SANA, reveal harsh suffering, as prison guards turned the holy month into a period marked by humiliation and oppression, far removed from the spirituality and higher purposes of Ramadan as a symbol of mercy, tranquility, and piety. An Exhausting Fast Assaad al-Mohammed, a mosque imam who spent several years in Saydnaya Prison, described the difficulty of fasting in detention due to poor food quality and irregular meal schedules. “Suhoor (the pre-dawn meal) was not served at the usual time before dawn, but rather close to sunset,” he said, explaining that detainees went many hours without food, which intensified the hardship of fasting. “The situation resembled a form of psychological and physical torture at once,” he added. Harsh Iftar Meals Mariam al-Ali, a former detainee at the Palestine Branch detention facility, said the meal used to break the fast was essentially a “lunch portion” and extremely meager. The barley bread provided was often “moldy,” she said, accompanied only by small amounts of rice or bulgur cooked in water. Drinking water was foul-tasting and malodorous, further compounding detainees’ suffering. Despite severe hunger and thirst, no suhoor meal was provided. Strict Penalties and Harsh Treatment Ahmed Mohammed Banyan, who was detained in several facilities including the Palestine Branch and Saydnaya Prison, said prison authorities imposed harsher penalties on detainees during Ramadan. Meals were consistently reduced, he said. Iftar sometimes consisted of just five olives, while bread rations were noticeably cut and left for hours before distribution. Regarding religious observance, Banyan said prison authorities banned congregational prayer and even punished detainees for gathering to pray. “We were forced to pray under blankets or in isolated corners, fearing discovery by guards,” he said. Calculating Iftar and Fasting Times Former Saydnaya detainee Ahmed al-Hamad explained that in underground cells, detainees had to estimate iftar time by adding roughly four hours to the lunch meal, which was typically served around 3:00 p.m. Everything was approximate, he said, noting that suhoor was prohibited and punishable. Violation of International Human Rights Law Al-Mu’tasim Billah al-Kailani, a researcher in international law, told SANA that the defunct regime’s practices in prisons during Ramadan constituted clear violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Denying detainees’ right to practice their religion, contravenes Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, he said. It also conflicts with Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Rule 65 of the Nelson Mandela Rules, which guarantee detainees the right to religious practice. Al-Kailani added that starving detainees and denying them adequate food, particularly during fasting hours, may constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment prohibited under Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Torture. He also cited violations of Rule 22 of the Nelson Mandela Rules, which obligates authorities to provide detainees with adequate food and clean water. Such abuses, including starvation, mistreatment, and denial of religious rites, could amount to crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, he said. For decades under the defunct regime, more than 100 prisons and detention centers, along with dozens of security branches and interrogation facilities, operated as closed spaces controlled by security apparatuses that practiced repression, torture, and persecution of citizens without clear charges or due process. These detention sites became symbols of a dark period during which justice was absent and human dignity was stripped away behind prison walls.