Detainees flee ISIS prison in Tabqah

Detainees flee ISIS prison in Tabqah

Exclusive – Abdalaziz Alhamza “RBSS”

Last week, a number of detainees managed to escape one of ISIS’s prisons in Tabqa city, leading to a security alert in the area. One of the detainees told RBSS that nearly twenty detainees managed to escape the prison, and they are trying to find a safe place outside of ISIS controlled areas.

The source confirmed to RBSS that there are about forty female detainees in the same prison, some of them accompanied with their children, with various charges. Three young women have been sentenced to death for “apostasy”.

The methods of torture used by ISIS are similar to those used by the Syrian regime, according to the source. They continue to torture detainees even after obtaining confessions. The prison has special rooms for “Al-Balanko” which is a hook used to hang detainees so that their tiptoes could hardly touch the floor. The source has also mentioned rods, the chair of torture, electric shocks and whipping as other methods of torture been used there.

When asking about the nationalities of those in charge of the prison the source said “The majority is from Syria – Raqqa. In addition to an Iraqi man who was the worst one of them. He was so cruel to us being directly responsible for all torturing actions, with another one who we don’t know where he comes from. Most of detainees were Syrians from Raqqa, Aleppo and Idleb with other Arabs “.

“ISIS confiscates properties of detainees with death sentence. There are a variety of charges such as cooperating with apostates, not supporting their (state), possessing a weapon and inhibit the public from obeying (The Caliph) “.

The sentence is decided by a judge in a court or even in prison, as what happened to our source, where he was told that he was sentenced to death along with some other prisoners, and the execution will be in a few days and their bodies will be crucified in the streets for two days.
The source continued “Women are whipped and tortured in prisons by masked fighters “. And he added “Many of female detainees are transferred to prisons in the city of Raqqa where you will hear nothing about them “.

ISIS prisons in Raqqa hold approximately 120 female detainees. Managed by male and female fighter, women prisons are one of the most mysterious ones in the city. Female detainees are usually executed inside prisons, as what happened last month when ISIS executed four women.
As for children, the source said “A large number of children arrested by ISIS are kept in prisons. The most common charges are insulting Allah and cooperating with (apostates). They are being tortured just like men, and some of them died under torture “.

RBSS reporter stated that ISIS captured one of the escaped detainees, questioned him to obtain some information about the rest, and eventually executed him.

media activist from the city of Raqqa, student at the Faculty of Law at the University of the Euphrates. Director of the Media Office of Raqqa, founding member of "Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently", founding member of the documentary project of "Sound and Picture". I work in documenting violations committed by Assad's regime and ISIS group and extremist organizations inside the city of Raqqa, as I work in programming, design and visual media. I hold a certificate of coach in digital security, and a certificate of journalist coach, and a certificate in documenting violations against human rights, and a certificate in electronic advocacy. I underwent a training under the supervision of "Cyber-Arabs" in collaboration with the Institute for War and Peace "IWPR", about the management of electronic websites and leadership of advocacy campaigns, and a training of press photography under the supervision of the photojournalist "Peter Hove Olesen".