I WANT TO DESCRIBE TO YOU MY EXPERIENCES IN SYRIA AFTER THAT NIGHT IN THE SYRIAN PRISON. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS CLEAR TO THE SECURITY PEOPLE THAT I WAS NOT THE WANTED MAN, I WAS TOLD THAT THEY HAD TO CONTINUE THE INVESTIGATION. THE GUARDS QUICKLY LED ME OUTSIDE THE ROOM, TIED MY HANDS AND BROUGHT ME TO THE PRISON WHERE I WAS RECEIVED BY A GUARD WHOSE NAME WAS AMRAN. HE THEN DRAGGED ME TO SOLITARY CONFINEMENT CELL NO.4 AND LOCKED THE DOOR BEHIND ME. I WAS VERY HOPEFUL THAT IT WOULD ALL END THE NEXT MORNING... ON THE MORNING OF MONDAY, 24 JULY, 2000, THERE BEGAN A PERIOD OF HORROR THAT LASTED CONTINUOUSLY FOR 11 MONTHS.

I WOKE UP TO THE SOUND OF BLOWS, CURSES, HOWLS AND CALLS FOR HELP. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF A SERIES OF TORTURES THAT THE PRISONERS SUFFER FROM. THE GUARDS ARRIVE EARLY IN THE MORNING AND OPEN THE DOORS OF THE SOLITARY CONFINEMENT CELLS VIOLENTLY. THEY WOULD TAKE OUT THEIR VICTIMS AND LEAD THEM BLINDFOLDED LIKE A FLOCK OF SHEEP. I LOOKED AT THEM AND MY BODY BEGAN TO TREMBLE WITH TERROR. AFTERWARDS THEY BEGAN TO BEAT THEM ON THEIR BACK WITH ELECTRIC CABLES. THE VOICES OF THE BEATERS ROSE AS THEY WENT OVER THE SAME QUESTIONS:'WHO DO YOU KNOW?' 'WHAT IS YOUR CONNECTION WITH SO-AND-SO? 'WHERE DID YOU SEE HIM?'

I BEGAN TO THINK THAT MY ARREST WAS SIMILAR TO THE ARREST OF MANY OF THESE. THEY FOUND MY PHONE NUMBER IN THE NOTEBOOK OF MY WIFE'S RELATIVE, CALLED ME AND BROUGHT ME TO THE STATION. THIS WAS THE SAME CRUEL METHOD WHICH KILLED MANY WHO WERE INNOCENT AND HID THEM FOR MANY LONG YEARS IN PRISONS ONLY BECAUSE THEIR NAMES OR PHONE NUMBERS HAD APPEARED IN THE NOTEBOOKS OF A CERTAIN SUSPECT. ONE OF THE INTERROGATORS TOOK ME OUT OF SOLITARY, BLINDFOLDED ME AND DRAGGED ME TO THE INTERROGATION ROOM. I WAS ASKED TO WRITE MY LIFE HISTORY. AFTER I HAD WRITTEN IT HE TOOK THE PAPER AND BEGAN MAKING CORRECTIONS. I WAS ASKED TO SIGN THIS AND I OBJECTED. I WAS THEN RETURNED TO SOLITARY AND STAYED THERE EIGHT DAYS. NO ONE SPOKE TO ME DURING THAT TIME. THE TORTURES BEGAN EVERY DAY AT 8 IN THE MORNING AND CONTINUED UNTIL TWO O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON. AFTER THAT, THEY RESUMED AT 8 IN THE EVENING UNTIL 11 O'CLOCK AT NIGHT. ALTHOUGH I WAS NOT TORTURED, THE CRIES AND WAILS OF THE PRISONERS CALLING FOR HELP WERE LOUDER THAN THE WHIP LASHES. I WAS GRIPPED WITH FEAR, ESPECIALLY WHEN ONE OF THE WOMEN IN SOLITARY HAD A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN AND BEGAN SCREAMING LOUDLY UNTIL THEY TOOK HER TO THE HOSPITAL.

ON SATURDAY, 29 JULY, 2000, THE CHIEF INVESTIGATOR RAID GHASAN AL-JAWAD ARRIVED. HE WALKED BETWEEN THE SOLITARY CELLS AND LOOKED AT THE PRISONERS. WHEN HE GOT TO MY CELL HE OPENED THE DOOR AND SAID, 'MY SON, WE KNOW YOU ARE INNOCENT AND ARE WAITING FOR A LETTER FROM DAMASCUS IN ORDER TO RELEASE YOU'. AFTER THAT I WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE GENERAL PRISON CELL WHERE I WAS WITH 15 OTHER PRISONERS. I ASKED SOME OF THEM WHAT THEY WERE ACCUSED OF AND I WILL DESCRIBE FOR YOU SOME OF THEIR 'CRIMES': THE FIRST MAN HAD NOT VOTED FOR BASHAR ASAD IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. HE WAS IMPRISONED AND THEY BEGAN TO BEAT HIM SEVERELY.

AS FOR THE SECOND PRISONER, IT WAS WRITTEN IN ONE OF THE INTELLIGENCE REPORTS THAT HE HAD SAID, 'THE PEOPLE OF ALEPPO AND HAMA ARE HEROES BECAUSE THEY FOUGHT'. THIS REFERRED TO THE MASSACRE OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SYRIAN CITIZENS IN HAMA IN 1982. THIS MAN WAS FOUR YEARS OLD WHEN TE HAMA INCIDENTS BROKE OUT. NEVERTHELESS, THEY USED ELECTRIC SHOCKS ON HIM TO GET HIM TO CONFESS. THE THIRD MAN SPOKE SADLY ABOUT A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION HE HAD HAD WITH A RELATIVE IN WHICH HE SAID THAT HE WAS GOING TO QARDAHA TO VISIT THE GRAVE OF PRESIDENT HAFEZ AL-ASAD. WHEN HIS RELATIVE ASKED WHAT HE WAS GOING TO WEAR, HE ANSWERED: 'RED CLOTHES'. HE WAS ARRESTED THAT DAY. THE BEATERS FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED TO CHANGE THE COLOUR OF HIS BODY TO BLUE FROM THE FORCE OF THE TORTURES. THIS, MY FRIENDS, IS THE SECOND PART OF THE STORY OF MY EXPERIENCES IN THE SYRIAN JAIL. FREELEBNAN