SYRIA. Damascus. December 18, 2024.

In the basement of the Mezzeh Air Force base, where the infamous detention center operated, stacks of prison records sit abandoned, their yellowed pages holding the secrets of a dark chapter in Syria’s history. Among these documents are likely the chilling details of the imprisonment and torture of countless detainees, including renowned Syrian activist Mazen Hamada, whose life was brutally extinguished within these walls.

The records are more than mere administrative paperwork; they are fragments of a meticulously maintained system of repression. Names, dates, and vague accusations scrawled across the pages represent lives uprooted and stories interrupted. For Mazen Hamada, these files may chronicle his arrest, the inhumane interrogations he endured, and the systematic abuse that ultimately led to his death. They are, perhaps, the last official traces of his existence in a place designed to erase identity and suppress dissent.

Such documents serve as grim evidence of the Assad regime’s use of detention centers like Mezzeh Air Force base to silence opposition. Each file tells a piece of the larger story—a catalog of human rights violations carried out with bureaucratic precision. For the families of the disappeared, these records may offer answers long sought, a painful but necessary step toward understanding the fates of their loved ones.

Now unearthed, these prison records stand as potential tools for justice, bearing silent witness to the atrocities committed. They hold the potential to shed light on the names of the disappeared, the extent of the regime’s brutality, and the complicity of those who perpetuated the system.