Hundreds Tortured in Syria, Human Rights Group Says
By KAREEM FAHIM
Published: January 5, 2012
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian government said Thursday that it had released more than 500 prisoners who were not involved in “terrorist” acts. A human rights group said, meanwhile, that it had compiled evidence that thousands of other detainees were languishing in government prisons and secret detention centers where, the group said, torture was routine.
The group, Avaaz, also said that its researchers had gathered the names of at least 617 people who had died under torture in government installations since the beginning of the uprising against Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad.
The group’s estimate of the number of the detainees — 37,000 — was more than double the tally provided by the Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, which said Thursday that it had documented the cases of more than 16,000 detainees. With journalists rarely allowed to travel around Syria freely since the unrest started, it was impossible to confirm either report.
To compile its report on prisoners, Avaaz said it confirmed deaths with three sources. It said that detainees — held in makeshift detention centers in places like soccer stadiums and movie theaters or at regular prisons — reported torture techniques that included sleep deprivation and electric shocks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/world/middleeast/hundreds-tortured-in-syria-human-rights-group-says.html?_r=1