Mohammed Salmu was only 19 years old when he was arrested and put in the infamous prison in Damascus. His relatives still do not know the reason behind his arrest.
Salmu has spent at least 43 years in the Syrian regime prisons.
He's severely traumatized, lost his memory, and is unable to speak.
"His condition is zero. He's worn out and has lost his memory. He doesn't respond and doesn't talk at all, he's scared. When we try to talk to him, he startles and scares you, me, and people around him," said Ahmed Hussein, his son-in-law.
Salmu is one of the thousands of freed inmates receiving treatment at the Syrian hospitals, including al-Mouwasat Hospital, after they endured the worst kinds of torture in Syrian prisons.
Alla Ramadan, another prisoner, has been missing for over 14 years. His mother has been looking everywhere for her son, but to no avail.
"I can't find him. He's been missing for 14 years. 14 years and no signs, he went and never came back," Ramadan's mother said in tears.
"He didn't participate in demonstrations, neither did he do something wrong. They took him, and I'm not sure if he's dead or alive. I'm still looking for him. May God punish the perpetrators," she added.
More than 100 freed prisoners are currently admitted to al-Mouwasat Hospital in Damascus, with the majority of them suffering from trauma, lost the ability to speak, and unable to recognize their loved ones.
"Frankly, their condition is extremely exhausting. But we like the fact that they feel secure and we are by their side. And we provide medicine based on the condition of the detainee," said Nadin Matni, Head of the ambulance team at Al Mouwasat Hospital.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, more than 136,614 people, including 3,698 children and 8,504 women, were detained in Syrian prisons during the Syrian civil war between March 2011 and December 2024.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated in January 2021 that 30,000 detainees were brutally killed by the Assad regime in Sednaya from torture, ill-treatment, and mass executions since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.
