No, These Are Not the ID Cards of the Syrian Regime’s Recently Freed Prisoners

Misbar's Editorial Team

News

8th May 2022

No, These Are Not the ID Cards of the Syrian Regime’s Recently Freed Prisoners

The photo has been published since 2017 (Facebook).

The Claim

Photos show the IDs of detainees released by the Syrian regime from Sednaya Military Prison.

News posted on

Emerging story

Facebook users across the MENA region have recently circulated photos purporting to show ID cards of Syrian regime prisoners released from Sednaya Military Prison near Damascus in early May.

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar's investigation discovered that the photos of the ID cards were previously published by the "Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently" campaign team's official Facebook page on June 10, 2017. According to the campaign team, the ID cards were discovered in an ISIS headquarters in Mansoura, Raqqa Governorate, northeastern Syria.

Al-Mansoura’s Liberation

On June 4, 2017, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took control of the entire town of al-Mansoura in the Raqqa Governorate after clashes with ISIS. They announced the killing of several ISIS members as well as the destruction and seizure of heavy weapons following the takeover.

Syria Adopts a General Amnesty Order

The claim began to circulate after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree granting general amnesty to Syrians for terrorist crimes committed prior to April 30, 2022. The decision was described as "a presidential amnesty that also includes terror-related convictions." Syrian detainees for terrorist crimes were released, "except those that resulted in the death of a human being," according to the decree's text.