Omar Muhammad Ali Hamdan

Omar Muhammad Ali Hamdan identifies himself as an ordinary citizen who had worked at his family’s restaurant before ISIS took over the city of Raqqa.

Omar was detained twice in ISIS prisons. His first detention was in 2015, when he was accused of helping fighters defect from ISIS. The second was in 2017, following a fight with his neighbor, who accused him of theft. Omar narrates how, during his second detention, he was transferred between multiple prisons in Raqqa. He started at the Wadi Street Prison, was moved to the Rumaila Prison, and was then finally transferred to the Odessa Hotel Prison. He also had his hand and leg amputated.

In this testimony, Omar recounts the events of his first arrest, when ISIS members ambushed him as he was trying to smuggle an Egyptian fighter out of the area. He also tells of what he endured and witnessed while being held in the Stadium Prison.

Omar says that after handing over his belongings in the safety deposit room, ISIS jailers handed him the prison uniform, which was a “Chechen Suit,” and took him to the solitary confinement section. Here, he spent 15 days alongside other inmates. He narrates the details of the prisoners’ daily routines: how they slept, ate, relieved themselves, and spent their time.

Omar did not undergo any interrogation in the first five days of imprisonment. After that, he was subjected to intense and violent interrogation sessions while blindfolded. Because he was blindfolded, he does not know which room the interrogation sessions took place in.

Omar continues the tour by talking about the methods of torture and the devices used. This included being suspended from the wrists on a hoist, being strapped to a wooden board known as the bisat al-rih (the “Flying Carpet”) and then forcibly bent, and being flogged with a green hose known as “Lakhdar Brahimi.”

He also discusses the methods of psychological torture. He says that the jailers would trick him into believing that he was going to be executed. Only later would he realize they were lying. Omar admits that he even thought of joining ISIS in the hope that his suffering would stop. 

Omar says that the ISIS jailers were usually either Syrians or Saudis. He says that ISIS members being punished were favored over the ordinary prisoners. He shares information and stories about those ISIS members, including the reasons for their imprisonment, their physical features, and the relative power they had, which allowed them to order food and goods from outside the prison. Many prisoners were suspicious of them, thinking that they may be informants rather than actual inmates. 

Discussing daily life in prison, Omar says that when the prisoners in his group cell woke up, they would tidy away their mattresses, perhaps wash their clothes, eat, and then dedicate the rest of the day to prayer and reciting the Quran. Meals were provided three times a day. The prisoners cleaned the group cell themselves. As for health care, a doctor would visit them weekly, prescribing medication for those in need. The numbers of men in the cell varied from 50 to 100.

Omar then attempts to describe the hierarchy of ISIS members within the prisons. There were the sheiks, the emirs, and the sharia judges. The sheiks made up the main body of jailers and prison officials, the emirs were the interrogators, and the sharia judges had the final say when it came to issuing sentences.

In the concluding part of his testimony, Omar recounts the details of the interrogation sessions he underwent during his first detention. Before he was released, his car was confiscated and he was made to pay a fine.