The Syrian Coalition mourned the death of Palestinian-Syrian photographer Nairaz Saied who died under torture in the prisons of the Assad regime after three years of detention.
Saied’s wife Lamis Al-Khatib confirmed the news about the death of her husband in Assad’s prisons. “There is nothing more bitter than writing these words, but Nizar did not die noiselessly. They killed my beloved and my husband,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
Local media reported that Saied left the Yarmouk camp after it fell to the ISIS extremist group in the spring of 2015, heading towards the regime-held areas. Assad’s security forces later raided his house and took him to an unknown location.
The Action Group for Palestinian of Syria (AGPS) earlier said that 3,825 Palestinian-Syrians were killed in the prisons the Assad regime. The monitoring group pointed out that the Assad regime had detained about 1,680 Palestinian-Syrians since March 2011, adding that hundreds are still missing.
Saied documented the suffering of thousands of people trapped in the Yarmouk camp, which was subjected to constant shelling by the Assad regime. He received several international awards, most notably the EU-UNRWA Prize for best photo. Saied’s short film ‘Letters from Yarmouk’ also won many international awards. AGPS pointed out that Saied’s photos were on display in two photo exhibits in the occupied city of Jerusalem and Ramallah.
The Syrian Coalition reiterated that the Assad regime have committed hundreds of thousands of crimes inside its detention centers, calling on the international community to launch serious investigations into these crimes and hold the perpetrators accountable.
The Assad regime has committed large-scale violations and crimes against journalists since 2011, prompting Reporters Without Borders to announce that Syria remains the most dangerous country for journalists. It said that hundreds of journalists and media activists were killed in Syria, adding that intimidation, arrest, kidnappings and murder of journalists have become the new norm in Syria. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
