Thaer al-Najjar and his family had been searching for his brother Imad for the past 13 years. Imad was arrested in 2012 by the security forces of Syria’s former Assad regime. Despite their efforts, they could not locate him. In December 2024, following the government’s overthrow and Bashar al-Assad’s departure, Najjar visited a notorious prison near Damascus multiple times with his son hoping to find any trace of Imad.
Imad, a painter who participated in peaceful protests against the regime, was taken away by Assad’s security forces in 2012. Najjar, a 57-year-old blacksmith, received a piece of paper from a reporter confirming his fears. This document, part of tens of thousands of leaked records and photos from the Assad regime, was a death certificate for Imad. The certificate stated that Imad did not respond to resuscitation attempts and passed away on August 14, 2012.
The Damascus dossier, a compilation of 134,000 Syrian security and intelligence records, including 70,000 images of torture victims, was obtained by German broadcaster NDR. The files shed light on the atrocities committed by Assad’s forces during the 13-year civil war. The leaked records have the potential to aid criminal investigations and potential prosecutions against Assad regime officials.
The photos in the dossier were initially gathered by a former Syrian officer who shared them with NDR. The images depict the gruesome reality of the regime’s brutality, showcasing the systematic torture and execution under Assad’s rule. The leaked images have been shared with authorities and organizations working to expose human rights violations in Syria.
The revelation of the Damascus dossier has provided closure to families of victims like Imad al-Najjar and activist Mazen al-Hamada, whose bodies were found after years of uncertainty. These documents offer a glimpse into the “bureaucracy of torture” that operated within the Assad regime and may serve as crucial evidence for seeking justice against those responsible for the atrocities.