DAMASCUS, Syria – More than 1,000 Syrians died in detention at a military airport on the outskirts of Damascus, subjected to execution, torture, or neglect at a site long feared as a hub of brutality under Bashar al-Assad’s rule, a new report reveals.
The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC), a U.S.-based human rights group, traced the deaths to seven suspected mass grave sites across Damascus, using a combination of witness testimony, satellite imagery, and leaked documents.
Some graves were reportedly within the grounds of Mezzeh Military Airport, while others were scattered throughout the capital.
Mezzeh, once a key detention and torture facility for Syria’s Air Force Intelligence, housed at least 29,000 detainees between 2011 and 2017, according to the report.
By 2020, the intelligence branch had converted hangars, dormitories, and offices into prison cells, where detainees were held in inhumane conditions.
Among them was Shadi Haroun, one of the report’s authors, who was imprisoned for several months between 2011 and 2012.
Speaking to Reuters, he described daily interrogations laced with psychological and physical torture, often leading to fatal injuries.
“Death came in many forms,” Haroun said. “We never saw the killings, but we heard gunshots every couple of days. We saw cellmates succumb to untreated wounds, infections, and starvation.”
One detainee, he recalled, suffered a foot injury from a beating. Left untreated, it worsened into gangrene, leading to amputation. Others were executed outright.
New Evidence of Mass Graves
Reuters, which was given an exclusive preview of the report, could not independently verify the existence of the graves.
However, satellite imagery reviewed by journalists showed disturbed earth and trench-like formations at two sites: one within Mezzeh airport and another at Najha cemetery.
These patterns, according to the report, are consistent with witness accounts of mass burials.
The findings add to mounting evidence of war crimes committed during Assad’s 23-year rule.
The U.S. Justice Department recently unsealed charges against two senior Syrian intelligence officers for their role in crimes at Mezzeh, including against U.S. citizens.
While some of the sites identified in the report were previously unknown, the existence of mass graves is not surprising, said Abu Baker, a colonel in Syria’s new government.
“We know that over 100,000 people went missing in Assad’s prisons,” he said. “Discovering the fates of the disappeared and finding more graves is one of the greatest tasks ahead.”
Human rights groups have long accused both Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad, of using extrajudicial executions, systematic torture, and chemical weapons against their own people.
The new report, covering the first years of Syria’s uprising (2011-2017), provides fresh evidence from former regime insiders—some of whom described killings at Mezzeh continuing until Assad’s ouster in December.
With the regime gone, the full scale of its abuses is only beginning to surface.
