'I stayed in this room for over a year and a half,' former inmate at Syria's Sednaya prison returns

NPR | By Jane Arraf

Published February 22, 2026 at 5:06 PM EST

An inmate who was imprisoned for 21 years in Syria's notorious Sadnaya prison shows NPR's Jane Arraf the concrete cells where he was held.

Jane Arraf

Jane Arraf covers Egypt, Iraq, and other parts of the Middle East for NPR News.