In 2018, Syrian doctoral student Youssef Juma uncovered graphic evidence of mass executions carried out by regime forces during the country’s protracted civil war. While ostensibly repairing a laptop belonging to a local security commander in Damascus, Juma accessed video footage documenting the killing of dozens of civilians. The videos showed individuals blindfolded and bound, led to a pit dug between apartment buildings in the Tadamon district, then shot and subsequently burned beneath car tires. The footage included 41 victims in one instance and, in a collection titled “revenge for a martyr,” recordings of the deaths of nearly 300 civilians.

Syria’s conflict, which began in 2011 after government forces under President Bashar al-Assad cracked down violently on demonstrators, escalated into a multifaceted civil war marked by widespread disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Estimates suggest as many as 300,000 people have vanished since the hostilities began, though few survivors have come forward with direct accounts. Previous recordings obtained by investigative teams were often too grainy to identify perpetrators, but Juma’s discovery featured clear footage filmed on a camcorder, revealing not only the acts themselves but also the faces of those responsible—including the owner of the laptop and other security personnel, some of whom lived nearby.

Months after Juma secured the video evidence, the footage was shared with Professor Ugur Ümit Üngör of the University of Amsterdam’s Holocaust and Genocide Center. Üngör has spent years researching individuals who served in Assad’s security apparatus, focusing on the officers involved in arresting, torturing, and killing suspected opposition sympathizers. His aim has been to understand the motivations and justifications of these men within the secretive and paranoid environment of the regime.

Despite the regime’s opacity, many officers maintained active social media profiles, especially on Facebook, which allowed Üngör to identify and attempt contact. While few accepted his friend requests or confided openly, a woman identified only as “Anna,” a pro-regime figure from central Syria’s Alawite community, provided rare access. She reported that officers often spoke candidly to her, free from concerns about surveillance or reprisal, expressing feelings of anger, fear, and isolation. Many described their experiences of arrest and interrogation by intelligence services, reflecting a climate of suspicion even among regime loyalists. Several officers conveyed their need to justify their actions, frequently denying personal responsibility and attributing blame to others.

The information gathered through these engagements offers insight into the complex dynamics within Assad’s security forces, highlighting both the systemic violence committed during the conflict and the evolving internal pressures facing those once empowered by the regime.