Far' Falastin

rdf:langString Far' Falastin

rdf:langString Maher Arar, imprisoned at Palestine Branch from September 2002 to October 2003

rdf:langString Samir, imprisoned at Palestine Branch in 2011

rdf:langString They threatened to bring my mother. They asked whether I wanted them to bring my wife here and have all the guys sleep with her.

rdf:langString They brought me down to where the cells are and put me in a room that measured 2 by 1.5 meters. The ceiling was not high. They left me there by myself. I stayed in this cell the whole time I was detained. The cell had every kind of filth, cockroaches, fleas, the smell of dirt and mold. There was no toilet. There was just an old large Pepsi bottle filled with urine.

rdf:langString There was a small opening in the ceiling, about one foot by two feet with iron bars. Over that was another ceiling, so only a little light came through this. There were cats and rats up there and from time to time the cats peed through the opening into the cell. There were two blankets, two dishes and two bottles. Nothing else. No light.

rdf:langString Far' Falastine (Arabic: فرع فلسطين, lit. 'Palestine Branch'), also known as Branch 235, is a prison operated by Syrian Intelligence under the charge of Brig. Gen. Muhammad Khallouf located in Damascus, notorious for accounts of torture, coercive interrogation, and deplorable conditions related by its former detainees. The Branch was established in 1969 as the liaison between the Syrian government and the various Palestinian entities permitted to operate in Syria (Fatah, as-Sa'iqa, DFLP, and PFLP). Although it has been associated with torture at least since 1990, the prison gained widespread notoriety in the wake of the September 11 attacks due to detainees suspected of ties to terrorist organizations being sent there through extraordinary renditions, primarily by the United States, as a means of outsourcing torture. The detention center is reportedly quite large, run by some 500 employees, but the majority of the reports regarding torture and abusive interrogation focus on the three underground floors.