Syria’s Disappeared Wanted – The New York Times

Taher al-Zain came to this hospital in the Syrian capital to look for his father Muhammad. The lawyer and father of five disappeared 12 years ago and is one of tens of thousands of Syrians who have gone missing during the country’s civil war. Thousands of political prisoners were released in Syria after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8. One of them was Ahmed Abu Seif. As the bodies of those who died in the prison are removed, they are taken to hospitals in different parts of the country. Taher looks at the photos of the deceased on the wall, looking for a sign of his father. Among the crowd were supporters of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the rebel group that now controls much of the country. Taher’s last stop is the notorious Sednaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus. Thousands of people are believed to have been executed and tortured here over the years. Taher and others have come daily to search for evidence of their missing loved ones in scraps of prison documents released by the former government. As Syria enters a new and uncertain phase, the families of the missing feel trapped in the past. Without answering, they continue to search for their loved ones and their closure.