Saydnaya, Syria CNN —As Syrians rejoiced across the country this week, many began the frantic search for missing loved ones who had been forcibly disappeared under Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship. Crowds have descended on the notorious Saydnaya prison, which had become synonymous with arbitrary detention, torture and murder. People gather at the Saydnaya prison near Damascus, Syria, on December 9, 2024. For the sake of Allah, help them.”A long traffic jam as people gathered at the Saydnaya prison in Syria on December 9, 2024. People wait as the volunteer group Syrian Civil Defense investigated the inside of Saydnaya Prison after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria on December 9, 2024.

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Persons: Bashar al, Omar Haj Kadour, Assad, Saydnaya, “ Allahu Akbar ”, Maysoon Labut, Labut, ”, “, Allah, they’d, Mounir Al, Fakir, Anagha Subhash Nair, Suheil Hamawi, ” Hamawi, “ I’ve, ’ ” Hamawi Organizations: Syria CNN, Getty, Amnesty, CNN, Syrian Civil Defense, Anadolu, AFP Locations: Saydnaya, Syria, Damascus, AFP, Russia, Dara’a, Syrian, Lebanese, Chekka