Adra Prison

History

Pre-civil war

Ghassan Najjar, an engineer who was imprisoned in 1980, reportedly went on two hunger strikes, one to protest conditions in the prison. His fellow inmates said he was beaten so badly by prison guards trying to force him to eat that he suffered spinal injuries.

Mas'ud Hamid, a Kurdish journalism student, was held in solitary confinement in the prison for one year from 2003 to 2004 before he was allowed monthly visits, and Human Rights Watch said that interrogators reportedly tortured him and beat him with a studded whip on the bottom of his feet. His room was 2 x, largely filled by a toilet in it.

In December 2004, Kurds in the prison conducted a hunger strike, which was allegedly halted by torture.

Amid civil war

In March 2011, 13 prisoners at the prison, including 80-year-old former judge Haitham al-Maleh and lawyer Anwar al-Bunni began a hunger strike to protest government oppression and the holding of political prisoners.

On July 1, 2013, female detainees in the prison began hunger strike in response to negligence of their cases by the public prosecution of the Counterterrorism Court, and absence of approval of their respective trials.

As of December 2014, the jail was well beyond its 2,500 person capacity at over 7,000 prisoners of all types of accused offenders, from murderers to traffic violators.

In August and September 2015, Jaysh al-Islam shelled and stormed the prison, taking control of two buildings.

Post-regime

On December 7, 2024, the prison was liberated by the Southern Operations Room during the Fall of Damascus. On December 13, 2024, the United States charged Samir Ousman Alsheikh with human rights abuses during the time that he ran the prison from 2005 to 2008.

Later on, the prison was used to detain former Syrian government soldiers and officers after the fall of Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported severe overcrowding, poor health conditions, lack of medical care, and ill-treatment of detainees, including humiliation and coerced confessions. In addition, a number of detainees from Suweida Governorate held at the prison since the southern Syria clashes began an open-ended hunger strike in late December 2025 to protest their arbitrary detention and poor humanitarian conditions, demanding their release and access to medical care.

Former prisoners

• Anwar al-Bunni
• Mas'ud Hamid
• Haitham al-Maleh
• Bassel Khartabil
• Ragheed al-Tatari

References

References

1. Alan George. (2003). "Syria: neither bread nor freedom". Zed Books.
2. "Little hope for press freedom on eve of President Assad's second seven-year term".
3. Aziz Abu-Hamad, Andrew Whitley. (1992). "Throwing away the key: indefinite political detention in Syria". Human Rights Watch.
4. Khaled Yacoub Oweis. "Syrian authorities interrogate 78-year-old dissident". Reuters.
5. "Syria authorities grill 78-year-old dissident". Kuwait Times.
6. (November 12, 2010). "Syria urged to transfer female prisoners". UPI.com.
7. (December 29, 2014). "Damascus' Adra prison massively overcrowded". Lebanon Daily Star.
8. Rhonda Roumani. (January 19, 2006). "Syria Frees 5 Political Activists". washingtonpost.com.
9. James A. Paul. (1990). "Human rights in Syria". Human Rights Watch.
10. Human Rights Watch. (2005). "Human Rights Watch False Freedom Online Censorship in the Middle East and North Africa".
11. Human Rights Watch. (2009). "Far from justice: Syria's Supreme State Security Court". Human Rights Watch.
12. Robert Lowe. (January 2006). "The Syrian Kurds: A People Discovered".
13. Evans, Dominic. "13 prisoners in hunger strike action". Scotsman.
14. (July 1, 2013). "Female detainees begin hunger strike in Adra Prison". Syria Newsdesk.
15. (2015-08-23). "Insurgents shell main prison near Syrian capital, killing 10". The Daily Star.
16. (2015-09-12). "11 dead in rebel shelling on Damascus: activists". The Daily Star.
17. (2015-09-11). "Rebels storm Syria's largest prison near Damascus: monitor".
18. (2024-12-08). "As Syria's notorious prisons empty, families search for the missing". Washington Post.
19. "US charges ex-head of Syrian prison with torture".
20. (14 December 2025). "Disastrous situation {{!}} Detainees in Adra prison struggle with wide spread of diseases and inhumane treatment". Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
21. (26 December 2025). "Sweida detainees begin hunger strike in Adra Prison". Hawar News Agency.