The inmates of Hama Central Prison ended their hunger strike which lasted for 20 days. This followed a meeting that joined them with a committee representing the Syrian government, during which they were made a promise that their demands would be studied and were notified of their files’ transference to the Russian ally to be examined, according to a testimony obtained by Syrians for Truth and Justice/STJ.
On December 3, 2018, one of Hama Central Prison’s inmates told STJ’s field researcher in the city of Hama the following:
“We ended our hunger strike on December 1, 2018 —i.e., 20 days after we embarked on it. This happened after a committee, representing the Syrian government, visited the prison and negotiated with us on the same day. The committee consisted of a number of Hama city’s mayors and members of the local administration, the Hama Merchants Chamber and the reconciliation committee. The representative committee promised us a solution to the case, for our files have been transferred to the Russian leadership at the Khmeimim Air Base, where the sentences [against us] will be reconsidered and studied. The committee also informed us that it transferred our demands of canceling the death penalty and commuting the life and temporary sentences.”
During the hunger strike, the detainee added, the health of eight detainees, also on the strike, deteriorated, as they suffered from diarrhea and severe vomiting, while the prison’s administration refused to admit needed medications to the prison. Their health got better when the strike ended.
The Military Field Court/Damascus and the Terrorism Court passed arbitrary death and life sentences against 68 inmates of the Hama Central Prison. The former also undertook procedures to transfer a number of the inmates to the Sednaya Military Prison, in preparation for implementing the death sentences passed against them, after which the inmates embarked on a hunger strike and pleaded support for their cause. Covering the issue, STJ published several detailed news reports. [1]
[1] “Serious Concerns of Executing “Suspended” Death Sentences in Hama Central Prison”, Syrians for Truth and Justice, November 9, 2018, (Last visit: January 25, 2019). https://stj-sy.org/en/view/949.
“Inmates in Hama Prison Embark on a Hunger Strike to Protest their Unfair Trial”, Syrians for Truth and Justice, November 13, 2018, (Last visit: January 25, 2019). https://stj-sy.org/en/view/959.