Americans released this week He was held in a Syrian prison for seven months before being flown out of the country on a U.S. military helicopter, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Travis Timmerman, one of thousands of prisoners freed by the rebels who overthrew former President Bashar al-Assad last weekend, was detained after entering the country illegally seven months ago. He said he was on a Christian pilgrimage at the time.
He told The Associated Press that along with another Syrian man, “liberators” freed him along with about 70 women, some of whom were being held with their children.
Timmerman said he was not treated badly while being held at the notorious Syrian intelligence facility, known as the Palestinian branch.
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This undated photo shows Travis Timmerman sitting on a porch swing in Urbana, Missouri. (Stacey Collins Gardiner, via AP)
However, he told Al Arabiya Television Network that he could hear other men being tortured in prison every day.
“He was fine. He was fed, he was given water,” Timmerman said. “The only downside was that I couldn't go to the toilet when I wanted to. I didn't get hit and the guards treated me well.”
He was allowed to leave his cell to go to the bathroom three times a day.
After Assad's overthrow, rebels came to the prison and “bashed down the door (of the cell) with a hammer,” he said.
Timmerman was first seen in a video posted online on Thursday after rebels took control of the capital Damascus.
Travis Timmerman speaks with reporters Thursday after his release from prison. (Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images)
Syria's freed political prisons reveal harsh realities of Bashar al-Assad's torture regime
In the video, a bearded Timmerman is seen lying on a mattress under a blanket in what appears to be a private home. A group of men appearing in the video said he was receiving adequate treatment and would be able to return home safely, the Associated Press reported.
The Palestine branch, also known as Branch 235, is housed in more than a dozen buildings hidden behind tall concrete walls, according to the New York Times.
Human Rights Watch reported more than a decade ago that detainees were subjected to torture, including electrocution and beatings.
“The guards hung my wrists from the ceiling for eight days,” a former inmate told the organization in 2012. “After several days of hanging myself and being denied sleep, I felt like my brain stopped working. I was imagining things. By the third day, my legs were swollen and I felt like I had never felt anything like this before in my life. I felt pain like never before. I screamed that I had to go to the hospital, but the security guard just laughed.”
The harsh conditions result in many prisoners dying from disease and starvation.
Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebel forces over the weekend. (Getty Images)
At another notorious Syrian prison, known as Sednaya, the Free Press, in collaboration with the Peace Communication Center, uncovered testimonies of torture and executions this week during an investigation following the fall of Assad's regime.
“They shouted names at dawn, stripped prisoners of their clothes and took them away,” a former prisoner told the Free Press. “The sound of chains on the platform told us it was an execution. The prisoners on death row had not been given food for three days. Once a month, they searched us. During one such search, a police officer said, “We're not here to inspect.''
Since thousands of prisoners were released, loved ones continue to search for traces of those who went missing in barbaric prisons.
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“We slept on top of each other,” one woman, who was held in the Palestinian branch for four and a half months in 2020 with dozens of other women, told the New York Times. “They didn't feed us and beat us.”
Fox News' Stephen Sorace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
