ISTANBUL
As the Assad regime crumbled, so too did the wall of fear that had long silenced the voices of those who suffered under its rule.
With its downfall, the horrific crimes committed over the past decades are finally coming to light. For the first time, individuals who were forced to remain anonymous or live in hiding are revealing their identities, telling their stories, and exposing the brutal realities of the Syrian conflict.
One of the most pivotal figures in this effort is Osama Othman, better known by his alias Sami. He played a crucial role in exposing the Assad regime’s war crimes, risking everything to ensure the world bore witness to the atrocities committed in Syrian prisons.
Sami’s work is closely tied to that of Caesar, the whistleblower behind the crucial Caesar Files – a collection of thousands of harrowing photographs documenting the torture and abuse of detainees following the 2011 uprising.
These images, smuggled out of Syria at great personal risk, became the foundation for the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, a set of US sanctions targeting the regime’s key financial and military backers.
In 2014, Anadolu published these photographs, sparking global outrage and putting the Assad regime under intense international scrutiny. The shocking images provided undeniable proof of the regime’s systematic use of torture, starvation, and extrajudicial killings against prisoners. The world could no longer look away.
The courage of Sami and Caesar...
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