The ‘hidden prisoner’ who was rescued from a Syrian jail by CNN was a member of Bashar al-Assad’s forces and killed and tortured civilians, a new report has claimed.
The prisoner, whose real name is Salama Mohammad Salama, was a first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence, which served former President Assad, Syrian fact-checking organization Verify-Sy reported.
Salama allegedly killed civilians and was responsible for detaining and torturing young men in Homs on fabricated charges, the organization claimed, citing residents.
They went on to accuse Salama of involvement in ‘theft, extortion and coercing residents into becoming informants,’ and said he participated in military operations on several fronts in Homs in 2014.
Salama was found under a blanket in a prison in Damascus by the network’s chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward and identified himself as a ‘civilian father’ named Adel Gharbal. CNN has now launched an investigation into his identity.
The man claimed to have been taken from his home in the city of Homs, arrested three months ago and interrogated over his phone contacts. He alleged he was left without anysustenance for four days when his captors fled during the fall of Damascus to rebel forces.
But Homs residents claim Salama was thrown in the Damascus prison less than a month ago, due to a dispute with a higher ranking officer over money he allegedly extorted. He has since been trying to gain sympathy following the fall of the regime, claiming he was ‘forced’ into committing his crimes, Verify-Sy reported.
Salama also allegedly deactivated his social media accounts and changed his phone number in an effort to erase any evidence of his involvement in armed activities an war crimes.
CNN has launched an investigation into the viral moment reporter Clarissa Ward and her team stumbled upon a man locked in a cell in one of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s notorious jails
Verify-Sy, a Syrian fact-checking site, had questions about the report
Ward was touring the detention site where countless civilians were tortured and beaten to death, when her team seemingly stumbled upon a cell which was still locked.
A Syrian rebel guard reportedly shot open the prison cell door and found the trembling prisoner found under the blanket.
Ward provided the man – who identified himself as Gharbal, a father from Homs, and claimed he had not seen sunlight in three months – with food and water. Salama was then led outside.
But Verify-Sy questioned the report, noting that the alleged prisoner did not flinch or blink when he presumably looked up at the sky for the first time in months.
‘Despite the purported harsh treatment of detainees in secret prisons, Gharbal appeared clean, well groomed and physically healthy, with no visible injuries or signs of torture – an incongruous portrayal of someone allegedly held in solitary confinement in the dark for 90 days,’ reported Verify-Sy, a part of Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network.
Upon further investigation, Verify-Sy said it could not confirm Gharbal’s identity – but after speaking to locals in Homs, was able to identify him as Salama Mohammad Salama, or Abu Hamza.
‘Residents of Al-Bayyada neighborhood said he was frequently stationed at a checkpoint in the area’s western entrance, infamous for its abuses,’ Verify-Sy reported.
‘Many were targeted simply for refusing to pay bribes, rejecting cooperation or even for arbitrary reasons like their appearance,’ the organization claimed.
The man, identified by Verify-Sy as Salama Mohammad Salama, is pictured with Ward after the rescue
Assad’s prisons were known for their brutality, with Sednaya Prison (pictured) being dubbed a ‘Human Slaughterhouse’
It is unclear what happened to the man following CNN’s clip, as he was seen getting into a Red Crescent vehicle that drove away.
But a spokesperson for CNN told the Daily Beast its portrayal of the man’s apparent rescued played out exactly as they had reported.
‘No one other than the CNN team was aware of our plans to visit the prison building featured in our report that day,’ the spokesperson said.
‘The events transpired as they appear in our film,’ he added.
‘The decision to release the prisoner featured in our report was taken by the guard – a Syrian rebel. We reported the scene as it unfolded, including what the prisoner told us, with clear attribution.’
However, the spokesperson acknowledged the prisoner may have given Ward a fake name.
‘We have subsequently been investigating his background and are aware that he may have given a false identity,’ the spokesperson said.
‘We are continuing our reporting into this and the wider story.’
CNN’s team visited the prison while searching for missing US journalist Austin Tice. It is understood the prison had been aware of the reporting team’s visit.
A spokesperson for the network acknowledged the prisoner may have given Ward a fake name and said it is investigating claims that he is not who he said he was. CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson is pictured
Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, over 157,000 people were arrested or had been forcibly disappeared – including 5,274 children and 10,221 women, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights
The incarcerated included protesters, human rights defenders, political dissidents, doctors who treated demonstrators or opposition figures, as well as their family members.
Over 1,500 people died under the torture, which included electrocuting genitals or hanging weights from them; burning them with oil, metal rods, gunpowder or flammable pesticides; crushing heads between a wall and the prison cell’s door; inserting needles or metal pins into bodies; and depriving prisoners of clothes, bathing and toilet facilities, the human rights network said.
The worst seemed to be Sednaya Prison, outside of Damascus, which spanned the size of 184 soccer stadiums and was surrounded by two minefields.
A 2017 Amnesty International report found thousands were killed in mass hangings in Sednaya, which it labelled a ‘Human Slaughterhouse’.
Between 20 and 50 people were killed every week, usually on Monday and Wednesday nights. Amnesty estimated that between 5,000 and 13,000 people were executed between September 2011 and December 2015.
