SNHR director Fadel Abdul Ghany breaks down as he announces massacre site

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians who disappeared or were detained under Bashar al-Assad's regime were likely executed, the founder of the rights group Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) told local media on Monday.

Fadel Abdulghany, who has written for The New Arab about horrific conditions in Syrian jails, broke down in tears after making the announcement on Turkey-based opposition Syria TV, which he said would be devastating for hundreds of thousands of families desperately awaiting news of their loved ones.

His group confirmed that 136,614 people were being held in Syria's vast prison network, in a statement that came following the rapid rebel offensive that ended decades of Baathist rule. The organisation added that many of those who were incarcerated over the years never came out. 

"I wanted to announce on TV that most of the missing people in Syria under the regime are dead," Abdulghany said, his voice trembling as he broke down in tears.

His announcement came amid growing calls from other organisations to protect all burial sites in Syria following claims of illegal mass graves as well as calls for information on the fate of the missing.

The Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Centre in Syria issued a statement on Monday, emphasising the "release of hundreds of detainees from the prisons of the former Syrian authorities".

"International humanitarian law (IHL) requires that all feasible measures be taken to search for the dead and missing without adverse distinction," Diakonia added. 

"This obligation is linked to the customary legal duty to respect and comply with the right of families to know the fate of their relatives."

Death in detention

According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 60,000 people have died under torture or due to harsh conditions in Assad's detention centres. 

Since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, Assad’s regime has been accused of widespread human rights abuses, including torture, rape, and summary executions. 

On Monday, rebels reported discovering around 40 bodies bearing signs of torture inside a hospital morgue near Damascus.  

The bodies were stuffed into body bags, with numbers and, in some cases, names written on them.  

Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the offensive, announced in a Telegram post on Tuesday that the new authorities in Syria would soon release "a first list of the names of the most senior individuals involved in torturing the Syrian people" to pursue and hold them accountable. 

Rebel groups took control on Sunday, ousting Assad, whose family had ruled Syria with an iron fist for over five decades.