Former detainees demand release of prisoners in Assad regime dungeons

By Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu, Ahmet Karaahmet and Ethem Emre Ozcan

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Former detainees protested Friday in northern Syria to demand the release of prisoners who are in the dungeons of the Assad regime.

Many women, who were released after being detained by Bashar al-Assad forces, gathered in front of the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing in Idlib province.

The women called on the international community to provide the necessary support to the former detainees so that they can overcome hardships.

They carried banners that read: "Rescue surviving detainees", "Freedom for detainees", "I want my mother" and " It is a social obligation to support female prisoners who are freed from the regime dungeons.”

Saliha Um Abdo urged the international community to save civilians who are in regime prisons.

Maryam al-Hamad from Damascus, whose three children are still being held in dungeons, said there are hundreds of thousands of civilians still waiting to be released, and that demonstrators have gathered to make their voices heard.

"We want all mothers to reunite with their children," she said.

At least 500,000 people, including women, are currently languishing in Assad prisons and detention centers, according to opposition sources.

Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

In the past decade, around half a million people have been killed and more than 12 million had to flee their homes.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara.