Syria’s new revolutionary authorities on Thursday announced the arrest of Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, a high-ranking military official accused of ordering mass executions at the notorious Sednaya prison during the regime of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Kanjo was responsible for the executions of thousands of young Syrian detainees at Sednaya prison while he was holding the position of director of the Military Justice Department and field court chief. The group stated that “20 of his companions were arrested and he is believed to have also been arrested.”
The SOHR also stated it has acquired new documents revealing the deaths of 2,403 civilians under brutal torture in prisons and security centers of the former regime. These documents, discovered in regime prisons and security centers after the fall of Al-Assad’s regime, serve as unchallenged evidence of the reprehensible practices and heinous crimes committed by the former regime against the Syrian people. They provide additional impetus to hold accountable all individuals involved, including those who aided or abetted such crimes and violations, and to prosecute them wherever they may be found. Since early 2024, the SOHR has documented the deaths of 9,939 civilians under torture and due to poor healthcare in regime prisons and security centers, among them a political activist, a university student, a writer, an engineer, a civilian with US nationality, a Lebanese civilian, and a regime army defector.
The Syrian security forces released three photos of Kanjo taken during his arrest. The authorities have promised a public trial for Kanjo, who is also accused of financially exploiting the families of detainees to amass a large fortune. He is also said to be responsible for the mass torture and executions in the infamous Sednaya prison near Damascus, which was breached by Syrian opposition fighters near the capital Damascus early December 7, reportedly freeing prisoners held in the prison.
The arrest comes as thousands of Syrians have flocked to Sednaya prison in search of their forcibly disappeared relatives since the fall of the Assad regime on December 8. International reports have revealed that thousands of detainees were killed in secret mass executions at the prison between 2011 and 2015, with an estimated 50 people killed per week.
The independent Violations Documentation Center has documented numerous reports of human rights abuses at Sednaya prison, including mass executions, torture, and forced disappearances. The center’s reports also indicate that Kanjo’s financial exploitation of detainees’ families was widespread and systematic. The arrest of Mohammed Kanjo Hassan marks a significant step towards accountability for the atrocities committed during the Assad regime. The Syrian authorities have pledged to bring those responsible for human rights abuses to justice, and the international community is watching closely to ensure that those promises are kept.
