Syrian former prisoners speak out on Assad regime's collapse

A man breaks the lock of a cell in the infamous Saydnaya military prison, just north of Damascus, Syria, Dec. 9, 2024. A woman examines the cells at the infamous Saydnaya military prison, just north of Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 9, 2024. Crowds are gathering to enter the prison after thousands of inmates were released following rebels' overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Men released from prison dance at the entrance of Aleppo city, on Dec. 9, 2024, as people wait for the return of relatives after the release of detainees from Syrian government prisons following the ousting of Syria's president.

As Syrians danced in the streets over President Bashar al-Assad's fall from power, Anwar Etnesh drove his car into the dense traffic clogging the route from his hometown Daraa north to Damascus. Hordes of Syrians like Etnesh were heading to Syria's capital to celebrate the end of the Assad family's rule. But Etnesh was on a mission to find his 55-year-old cousin, whom Assad soldiers arrested in Daraa 13 years ago during anti-government protests. He was never seen or heard from again.