Hama Central Prison

Hama Central Prison is a civilian prison located in eastern Hama. The population of the prison was reportedly 1400 prisoners in 2016, 850 of whom were in prison for political dissent (VDC). Those who are being held for political dissent often face show trials from field courts and government “Counter-Terrorism Courts” that deal out arbitrary sentences with little time to address individual cases (News Deeply). Some of these trials resulted in death sentences and transfers to the infamous Sednaya prison. In May 2016, approximately 850 prisoners revolted to protest these show trials and the use of torture after 5 prisoners were told of their upcoming transfer to Sednaya. The prisoners took several guards hostage and forced the government into negotiations through which they secured the release of 180 political prisoners (News Deeply).

After the revolt ended, detainees in Hama Central Prison continued defiance in the face of unfair and unlawful practices by the regime. In November 2018, prisoners began a hunger strike to protest a new round of death sentences handed out by the courts (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed). This ended in December of that year.  Negotiations following this and other acts of protest led to the release of more than 50 prisoners in March 2019 (SN4HR). However, some outlets have reported that the release of prisoners was contingent on prisoners agreeing to serve in the Syrian military (Syrian Observer).