The Last of Syria's Political Prisoners are Still Languishing in Lebanese Jails
A political prisoner speaks to me on a smuggled phone from a jail in Lebanon
When Damascus was liberated in December of last year and Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow, thousands of the regime’s political prisoners were released from jail. It was a joyous occasion — so many people who had been trapped in Assad’s dungeons were reunited with their families and could take part in rebuilding Syria. Meanwhile, around the region, Syrians who had fled the country began returning home en masse, including from Lebanon, which had hosted more Syrian refugees than any other country.
But there are still hundreds — possibly thousands — of Syrian political prisoners in Lebanon who are unable to return to Syria. Most, if not all, of these prisoners are being held by Hezbollah, which was a key ally of the Assad regime. Despite the emergence of a new government in Syria, these detainees continue to face abuse and imprisonment for their political opposition to the now-deposed Syrian leader.
In today’s episode, I speak with one of those detainees — whom I will call Omar — who managed to smuggle a phone into a prison in Lebanon. Omar was detained in 2024, but prior to that he worked to expose Hezbollah’s mass detention of Syrian opposition activists. In our conversation, he tells his story and that of his fellow detainees.
This is a powerful episode that exposes an ongoing human rights calamity that has received little, if any, media attention. It came about through a chance encounter with Mouaz Moustafa as we were both attending the Halifax International Security Forum last week. Mouaz Moustafa is the director of the Syria Emergency Task Force and has played a key role in supporting Syria’s democratic transition since the fall of the Assad regime. I actually met Mouaz a couple of years ago at this same conference, and when I ran into him in the hallway this year, he pitched me the story and offered to translate the interview. I’m so glad he did — and it would not have happened without the Halifax International Security Forum, which brought us together. A special thank you to the conveners of this key global gathering.
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