After the fall of the Syrian regime in December 2024, CNN reporter Clarissa Ward was led deep into a Syrian prison where the Assad regime imprisoned, tortured, and killed thousands of people. This particular prison held men condemned to death, usually for reasons they knew nothing about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ward and her guides came upon one locked cell with what looked like a pile of blankets against the wall. When the soldier carefully poked at it, a man emerged, frightened, hands in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You\u2019re ok. You\u2019re ok.\u201d Ward tells him over and over as he grips her arm tightly with both hands. They start to walk outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The soldier says, \u201cThank God you are safe. You are free.\u201d The man says he\u2019d been in this, his third prison, for three months. His captors had fled four days before, leaving him without food or water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then they lead him outside. The reporter says, \u201cAfter three months in a windowless cell he can finally see the sky.\u201d \u201cO God, the light,\u201d he says, \u201cO God, there is light! O God, there is light!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A rebel fighter says, \u201cThere\u2019s no more army, no more prisons, no more checkpoints.\u201d The astonished man says, \u201cAre you serious?\u201d A paramedic came and another man who says, \u201cYou are safe. Everything you are afraid of is gone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n