Tadmor Prison

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Tadmor prison is located in Palmyra in the deserts of eastern Syria approximately 200 kilometers northeast of Damascus (Tadmor, or Tadmur is the Arabic name for Palmyra).

The structures were originally built as military barracks by the French colonial forces.

During the 1980s Tadmor prison housed thousands of Syrian prisoners, both political and criminal. The prison is known for harsh conditions, extensive human rights abuse, torture and summary executions. It was the scene of a 1980 massacre of prisoners by Rifaat al-Assad, after the Syrian branch of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood had attempted to assassinate his brother, president Hafez al-Assad.

While the feared Mezze prison in Damascus was closed by Bashar al-Assad after he assumed power in 2000, Tadmor prison is still in use.