蜜芽传媒

The brutal conflict in Syria began five years ago this week and the stories of human suffering there continue to emerge. Some listeners may find parts of this interview disturbing.

In 2012, 53-year-old Hanada Al-Refai was working as a maths teacher in Damascus when she was arrested for protesting against President Assad. She says she was taken to an air force intelligence base and kept in a dark basement for seven months with other women, including a 12-year-old girl.

They could hear male prisoners being tortured outside and Hanada describes the scene in the women's toilets. "Even when you used to go to the bathroom, you can't imagine how many men they hang from the ceiling," she says. "The men hanging there, their eyes covered and their hands behind their back."

Hanada says she was also tortured. "They put me on the floor, they took off my shoes and my socks. And then they start to ask and beat me, ask and beat me. And I was screaming."

To this day she doesn't know why she was released from custody. " I was lucky," she says.

(Photo: former Syrian detainee, Hanada Al-Refai, Credit: 蜜芽传媒)

Show less