SNHR: 243 People Killed Under Torture in Assad’s Prisons during August

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented 243 people killed under torture in the prisons of the Assad regime in August. The Network said in a report released today that the number of victims of systematic torture exceeds 5,281, including 94 children and 32 women since March 2011. It is worth mentioning that a public hearing session was held in Washington in late July in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Syrian defector who goes only by the name “ Caesar” delivered dramatic and disturbing testimony about the Assad regime’s atrocities, sharing with lawmakers just a few of the thousands of photos he took showing prisoners who were brutally beaten, starved and murdered.” Caesar spoke before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about what he saw while working for Bashar al-Assad’s army. Imad al-Din Rashid, head of the political bureau of the Syrian National Movement, pointed out that the session discussed three major points: the need to stop the torture practiced by the Assad regime against 150,000 detainees incarcerated in its secret prisons and who are facing the same bleak fate, emphasizing that Assad is not a partner in the fight against terrorism, while and the third point was highlighted by Frederic Hof, a former State Department senior official, who pointed to the need for supporting the Syrian Coalition and vetted members of the moderate armed opposition. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Syrian Network for Human Rights)