Jordanian Man Reunites with Family After 38 Years in Syrian Prisons

A Jordanian man, Osama Bashir Hassan al-Bataynah, has returned home after spending 38 years in Syrian prisons, an ordeal that ended with the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.

The news was confirmed on Tuesday by Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Soufian al-Kodat.

Al-Bataynah, who disappeared in 1986 at the age of 18, was discovered in Syria “unconscious and suffering from memory loss,” according to Kodat. His family had reported his disappearance decades ago, only to learn recently that he had been held in Syrian custody all this time.

“He was transferred from Damascus to the Jaber border crossing, where he was handed over to Jordanian border guards,” Kodat said. The emotional reunion with his family occurred early Tuesday morning.

Al-Bataynah’s release came as Syrian prisons were opened by rebel forces who ousted Assad on Sunday, liberating thousands of detainees.

Civil society groups had long accused Assad’s regime of using detention centers as tools of oppression, characterized by arbitrary arrests, torture, and mass killings. Among those released was Suheil Hamawi, a Lebanese national who had been imprisoned for 33 years.

Amnesty International previously condemned the conditions of Assad’s prisons, particularly Saydnaya, which the organization described as a “human slaughterhouse.” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated in 2022 that over 100,000 people had died in Syrian jails since the onset of the 2011 uprising that escalated into a brutal civil war.

The Arab Organisation for Human Rights in Jordan revealed on Tuesday that 236 Jordanians remain detained in Syria.