Syrian woman: Interrogators broke my arm and teeth

ROTTERDAM

Syrian women jailed by the Syrian regime are left with haunting memories of unbearable torture and abuse in interrogation centers.

Abdulfatah, 46, was detained on Dec. 25, 2013 in Muaddamiye upon accusations of helping students who came to Damascus from Homs to receive education.

Spending roughly five and a half months in a very small cell along with 40 other women, she recalling witnessing inhumane torture and cruelties

"Seven soldiers took off my headscarf and clothes. They broke my arm and teeth," she said.

"Since the room we stayed in was very small, one group had to remain standing, while others lying down or sitting," she added.

After being released, she fled to Turkey’s Sanliurfa district along with her daughter and mother.

She has been living in the Netherlands since November 2014 with her 12-year-old daughter, while her other children still live in Syria.

"I've been receiving therapy since I got to Netherland. I don't want to go back to Syria because I hate what happened there," she said.

Humanitarian crisis in Syria

Syria has been locked in a devastating conflict since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN figures, while women and children continue to bear the full brunt of the conflict.

According to the International Conscience Movement, an NGO, more than 13,500 women have been jailed since the Syrian conflict began, while more than 7,000 women remain in detention, where they are subjected to torture, rape and sexual violence.

The movement is an alliance of individuals, rights groups and organizations aiming to secure urgent action for the release of women and children in the prisons of the Syrian regime.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz