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Abstract

The Syrian Assad regime used prisons as tools of domination. As such, prisons had the power not only of active repression but also as places of detention and disappearance for Syrians. The expansion of political detention in Syria over fifty years transformed prison into a living being in the sense that prison became a part not just of Syrians' political life, but also of their social identity. One can recognize it in voices, attitudes, lifestyles, and even written and oral culture. Syrian cities are full of weapons since a large area of the urban space is inhabited by the buildings of military, civil and secret prisons. This object, defined as the prison, cast its shadow over Syria and its people in many ways. It occupied significant urban space and was anticipated across vast geographical areas in the heart of cities and on the outskirts of villages. The cars of the state’s security service were symbols of political arrest and embodied a form of prison that circulated across Syrian geography, both urban and rural. Another life of prison, outside the institutional walls, was formed by the acts of security and intelligence personnel in daily Syrian life. They appeared in civilian clothing and brandished their weapons in universities, markets, public institutions, and even bakeries.

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