Tadmor Prison

Tadmor Prison

Tadmor Prison
Location	Tadmur, Homs Governorate, Syria
Coordinates
Status	Destroyed by ISIS. Active from 1930s–2001, 2011–2015.

Tadmor Prison (Arabic: سجن تدمر), referred to as the Desert Prison, was a former prison located in Palmyra, approximately 200 kilometers northeast of Damascus.

Tadmor prison was known for harsh conditions, extensive human rights abuse, torture and summary executions. A 2001 report by Amnesty International called it a source of "despair, torture and degrading treatment."

It was captured and destroyed by militants of the Islamic State (IS) in May 2015.

History

Founding

The structures were originally built as military barracks by the French Mandate forces. According to some reports, the building began to be used as a prison for political prisoners starting in 1966, after the 1966 coup d'état. With the rise of Hafez al-Assad to power in the 1970s, the prison was significantly expanded.

Prison massacre

Main article: 1980 Tadmor prison massacre

During the 1980s, Tadmor housed thousands of Syrian prisoners, both political and criminal and it was also the scene of the June 27, 1980 Tadmor Prison massacre of prisoners by Rifaat al-Assad, the day after the Syrian branch of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood narrowly failed in an attempt to assassinate his brother, then president Hafez al-Assad. Members of units of the Defence Brigades, under the command of Rifaat al-Assad, entered Tadmor Prison at dawn by helicopters and murdered an estimated 500 to 1,100 prisoners in the cells and the dormitories using grenades and machine guns. The massacre is well known throughout Syria.

Closure and reopening

Tadmor was closed in 2001 and all remaining detainees were transferred to other prisons in Syria. Tadmor Prison was reopened on June 15, 2011, and 350 individuals arrested for participation in anti-government demonstrations were transferred there for interrogation and detainment.

Destruction

In May 2015, the prison was captured by the Islamic State who also took over the prison, released the prisoners and showed a video of its interior. Islamic State militants then used explosives to blow up the prison complex on 30 May.

See also

• Adra Prison
• Hama massacre
• Human rights in Syria
• List of massacres in Syria

External links

• A 1996 Human Rights Watch report on Tadmor prison