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The Daily

Syria Unearths Years of Atrocities

Warning: This episode contains descriptions of torture and death. It also contains audio of death and grief. Under Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian government set up a vast network of prisons and torture chambers that swallowed up tens of thousands of people. For years, those perceived as enemies of the regime would disappear into the system, and their families would have no idea what happened to them. Christina Goldbaum, who has covered the events in Syria, takes us inside one of those prisons and tells the story of one man who survived to tell the tale. Guest: Christina Goldbaum, the Afghanistan and Pakistan bureau chief for The New York Times.
Duration
34m
Broadcast on
17 Dec 2024
Audio Format
other

Warning: This episode contains descriptions of torture and death. It also contains audio of death and grief.

Under Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian government set up a vast network of prisons and torture chambers that swallowed up tens of thousands of people. For years, those perceived as enemies of the regime would disappear into the system, and their families would have no idea what happened to them.

Christina Goldbaum, who has covered the events in Syria, takes us inside one of those prisons and tells the story of one man who survived to tell the tale.

Guest: Christina Goldbaum, the Afghanistan and Pakistan bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • Families of the missing are hoping that they may be reunited with loved ones or at least learn what happened to them.
  • Amid the celebrations after the ouster of Mr. al-Assad, Syria has also found itself in the opening chapter of a nationwide reckoning over the horrors that his government inflicted.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.


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This podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love. And a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. (dramatic music) This is Christina Goldbaum. I'm in Damascus, capital of Syria right now. And I'm walking through a prison that's underneath one of the intelligence branches in the capital. There are these three solitary confinement rooms and etched onto the walls, her messages, from prisoners who were held here. One of the messages says, "I love you, Mom." There are others that are praying to God. And there's also an etching up a mosque. What's inside? That folder. He's reading. In earlier, as we're going through the building, we found a folder with pictures of what looked like prisoners who have been tortured and killed. This is like a report for the death. And death certificates next to them. You know, when we first arrived in Syria, just a day after the rebels took the country, there was a lot of celebration, a lot of people out on the streets finally feeling this taste of freedom. And as the week has gone on, and we've come to more and more of these prisons and torture facilities, it's just clear just how much of a reckoning the country is going to have to go through now to confront and reconcile with all of the horrors that happened over the past couple of decades. From the New York Times, I'm Sabrina Tavernisi, and this is the daily. After the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the opening up of Syria, tens of thousands of people were released from prisons across the country.

Transcription truncated.

Warning: This episode contains descriptions of torture and death. It also contains audio of death and grief. Under Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian government set up a vast network of prisons and torture chambers that swallowed up tens of thousands of people. For years, those perceived as enemies of the regime would disappear into the system, and their families would have no idea what happened to them. Christina Goldbaum, who has covered the events in Syria, takes us inside one of those prisons and tells the story of one man who survived to tell the tale. Guest: Christina Goldbaum, the Afghanistan and Pakistan bureau chief for The New York Times.