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Assad Regime's Atrocities.. "Sunday Times": Syrian Families Fall Victim to Terrifying Spy Network
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Security apparatus operations reveal a model similar to East Germany's Stasi, with special focus on recruiting informants and forcing detainees to provide information
The British "Sunday Times" detailed horrific findings from intelligence files discovered in four security branches in Homs. The documents revealed a security system deeply embedded in Syrian society that forced citizens to spy on their relatives, neighbors, and friends.
Analysis of thousands of pages showed teachers reporting their students, while those accused of betrayal faced torture and death. The newspaper highlighted similarities between the Syrian security system and the former East German Stasi, with surveillance penetrating individual families.
The records reveal security agencies maintained an extensive informant network, hacking suspects' phones and monitoring personal relationships. Documents indicated children as young as 12 were tried for "insulting the regime," including one case of a child prosecuted for tearing up a former president's picture.
The records showed competition between security agencies to recruit the best informants, with mutual suspicion about agents' dual loyalties. Security officers attempted to destroy these records by burning documents, but the regime's rapid collapse on December 7 prevented complete destruction.
The files documented the use of torture to extract confessions and names of alleged collaborators, with detailed descriptions of torture tools, including electric shock devices. The newspaper noted that documents were published with changed names, dates, and locations to preserve judicial accountability efforts.
Levant-Agencies
