Key facts
- Mohammad Ghamira, a 29-year-old father of two and former White Helmets volunteer, died after being detained and allegedly beaten by Syrian security forces.
- Ghamira suffered from hemophilia, a condition affecting blood clotting, and his family had warned authorities about his condition.
- Syrian officials have promised an investigation into Ghamira's death, and seven interior ministry personnel have been detained for questioning.
- Rights groups and a UN commission have documented ongoing patterns of torture, ill-treatment, and deaths in Syrian detention centers, even after the fall of the former regime.
The death of Mohammad Ghamira, a 29-year-old father of two and former White Helmets volunteer, has reignited concerns about torture and abuse in Syrian detention centers. Ghamira, who had hemophilia, died in a hospital after being released from jail, with his family alleging he was beaten by security forces after his arrest on suspicion of theft.
Syrian officials, including the Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh, have acknowledged Ghamira's death resulted from a beating. The interior ministry has launched an investigation and detained seven personnel for questioning, with a spokesperson acknowledging "shortcomings and deficiencies" in some police departments.
However, rights groups and a UN commission report that abuses persist in Syrian detention facilities. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic documented widespread torture, including beatings, electric shocks, mock executions, and sexual violence, in both official and makeshift facilities between January and October 2025. Syrians for Truth and Justice also reported ongoing severe beatings, electric shocks, and deaths in custody, though they noted a lack of evidence of a centralized torture apparatus under the current government.
Families of detainees expressed distress at the recurrence of such practices, which they had hoped to end after the fall of the former Assad regime. The incidents have reopened old wounds for thousands of Syrian families who lost loved ones in detention centers during the previous rule.