Deadly torture device discovered in Syria’s ‘human slaughterhouse’

A macabre torture machine used to crush corpses has been discovered in a Syrian prison nicknamed the “human slaughterhouse”.

video An Iron Press report was published online as rebels freed prisoners from Sednaya prison near Damascus, the capital of Syria.

The hydraulic press was filmed along with ropes and bags that were allegedly used to dispose of the remains.

“After he is hanged, they put him in the press and force him to become like paper,” the caption to the video says. It continues: “His body and bones are shattered. There are blood channels under the press. Then his remains will be put in a sack and disposed of outside the prison.”

The press has reportedly been used to destroy and execute prisoners of the Assad regime, which is accused of human rights abuses.

The video has not been independently verified.

Amnesty International called Sednaya Prison a “human slaughterhouse” and accused the Assad government of systematic torture and secret executions of up to 13,000 Syrians at the time of the last uprising between 2011 and 2016.

Syrian rebels are said to have released thousands of prisoners, including women and children, who were being held in underground cells in the hellhole prison. There are reports that many more are trapped. The cells are said to be located in a vast network of buried tunnels that are only accessible via electronic keyboards.

Female inmates could be heard screaming with their children as their cells were opened. A toddler was walking down a corridor with his mother.

“Don’t be afraid…Bashar al-Assad has fallen,” one rebel said to a group of released female prisoners.

Among those released was writer Bashar Barhoum, 63. He told the Associated Press that his execution was scheduled for Sunday.

“I haven’t seen the sun until today,” he said after spending seven months behind bars.

“Instead of being dead tomorrow, thank God he gave me a new life.”

The country’s former president, Bashar al-Assad, has fled with his family to Moscow, where they are granted asylum.