As part of its project to support survivors of detention in Syria, TDA produced a docuseries entitled “Surviving“, which presents testimonies by male and female survivors of Syrian regime prisons.
Through this video series, TDA aims to raise awareness on the hardships that survivors of detention endure and to urge a more sensitive handling of their cases, by shedding light on their experiences and suffering during detention and after their release.
Apprehensions in Detention
The first episode in the docuseries, under the title “Thoughts in Detention“, focuses on the survivors’ experiences in prison. Female survivors recount the violations and practices they were subjected to while in detention, describing their turbulent thoughts and emotions as fearful and heartsick for their families, repeatedly threatened with the arrest of a family member as a form of psychological torture.
A survivor says in her testimony to TDA: “Time in detention was very slow and difficult. I felt pain with every second that passed.” Another described the overwhelming feelings she had: “We were careful not to weep loudly because we weren’t allowed to make a sound. I yearned for my community and my life before detention, my family and friends and our gatherings. I longed for nature, for the smell of the air, the earth, the rain.”
One survivor said her biggest fear was becoming a forgotten number in prison: “I always wondered if I would be forgotten inside. Who would look for me? Who would miss me and get me out of there?”
Another spoke of the connection she developed to the walls of her cell: “The wall is the first thing a prisoner encounters. There we keep count of the number of days we have spent inside. There we discover how long former detainees remained imprisoned. Everyone who enters prison records on the wall the days they are there, marking lines or dates and their names. The first date I found was 2012. The second was 2015. They were both recorded by the same two women. That was when I lost hope that I would ever be released.”
Stigmatization
In the second video, the documentary touches on the “Stigmatization” that persists for survivors after they are released from prison, coming from family, society and their closest surrounding communities. Most of the time, a female detainee is released to find herself facing more suffering under the harsh scrutiny of society and its endless accusations, weighing her down with more social, psychological and physical burdens and challenges. Meanwhile, the same society honors male detention survivors.
In her testimony to TDA, one survivor described the social stigma – the majority or her relatives completely disowned her, and the rest were careful to avoid her. Those who did contact her asked hurtful questions about what had happened to her in detention.
On the impact of this shocking and unexpected treatment, one of the survivors said: “When I got out of prison, I was surprised that one of my family members, without my permission, booked an appointment for me with the district doctor, to make sure I had not been raped. This came at a time when all my close relatives and friends cut off communication with me, and my workplace expelled me because my colleagues questioned how I had been released. They were accusing me of having become an informant for the regime to spy on them. I suffered for two years from severe depression.”
Another female survivor expressed how society discriminates in its treatment of male and female survivors: “When a man is released, he talks openly and proudly about what he faced inside, because society sees him as a hero, no questions asked, while a female detainee is stigmatized by a society that insists on hiding us away or marrying us off to cover up our shame”.
Absent Justice
The third episode, entitled “Absent Justice,” reflects on the concept of justice for survivors of regime prisons, what their expectations are in this regard and how they view the work of investigation committees and international courts, and what they hope to achieve by reviving their collective memory.
The survivors narrate in their testimonies to TDA the reasons that led them to document the human rights violations they were subjected to in detention, despite their incomplete confidence in local authorities and in ongoing international trials against the regime’s crimes against humanity.
One survivor says: “There is a crisis of confidence in each other as Syrians, and in the international community which keeps giving us promises and hope for seriously holding the regime accountable, as happened at the time of the Caesar Act, but in the end every decision remains ink on paper.”
Another survivor wishes that in future trials, the Syrian regime is condemned as a system, rather than the trial of affiliated individuals, saying: “Our problem is not only with these individuals. We want to prosecute the entire system, but we expect that the road to accountability is a very long one.”
As for documenting violations, one survivor said in his testimony: “We are only documenting what we were exposed to for history to record. For future generations. They need to know of the arrest, violence, and torture we faced merely because we freely expressed our opinions. Hopefully, one day we can use these documents to prosecute the tyrant who did this to us.”
Surviving after Detention
The docuseries concludes with its last episode, “Surviving after Detention“, in which it reviews the lives of female survivors after they were released from prison, raising many questions about how to adapt and integrate into normal daily life in one’s environment, society, or workplace.
Their responses expressed fear – fear for their lost dreams, their scattered hopes for justice and stability, for educating their children, building their capacities and skills all over again, joining the labor market, not to mention for detainees who are still in prisons to this day.
A survivor says in her testimony to TDA: “My only dream at the moment is to achieve justice and victory for victims of detention in Syria. Our personal dreams are in general no longer clear due to the pressures we are living under. The most that I can strive for is the stability we have been denied. What worries me most at the moment is educating my children and helping them reach as high as they can in life.”
Meanwhile, another survivor explained her only goal after surviving detention was to devote her time and efforts to documenting everything that detainees are exposed to in prisons, saying: “I survived detention, but I left behind tens of thousands of detainees who need someone to speak up for them and convey their suffering.”
