Imprisonment by Syria's State Security: Interview

One of the more notorious aspects of the Assad regime was the existence of multiple intelligence agencies that worked at least in part to monitor and suppress real and suspected opposition to the regime. Among these agencies was the Amn al-Dawla (“State Security”), more formally known as the General Intelligence Branch/Directorate.

As it happens, a person I know had been briefly imprisoned by State Security in Damascus at the time of the regime’s fall and was among a group of 1500 prisoners freed from the State Security prison by the downfall of the regime. In this conversation he speaks briefly about his experiences. Originally from Idlib province, he currently resides in the al-Sayyida Zaynab area of Damascus (home to a famous Shi‘i shrine: see Murtaza Hussain’s recent interesting dispatch where he visited the shrine).

I should add that this person was not pro-opposition at all, nor is he optimistic about Syria’s future under the new government. However, regardless of one’s views about the new government, it should be realised that the Assad regime had no intention of reforming the police state, and had it won the war, the environment would likely have become even more repressive.

The interview is slightly edited and condensed for clarity (image: an emblem of Amn al-Dawla).

Q: Firstly can you briefly describe your life in the events?

A: I did compulsory service in the army, in a place where there were no battles. I was discharged in the ordinary way.

Q: I see. When were you arrested and what were the circumstances?