Syria rebel leader vows to shut down notorious Assad prisons | BBC News

Syrian rebel forces have said they plan to close the notoriously harsh prisons run by ousted president Bashar al-Assad. They also said they plan to hunt those involved in the killing or torture of detainees. Rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, said he would dissolve the security forces of the former regime, in a statement seen by the Reuters news agency. Videos showing thousands of prisoners being freed from Saydnaya prison - referred to as a "human slaughterhouse" by rights groups - surfaced after the collapse of the Assad government on Sunday. Almost 60,000 people were tortured and killed in the prisons run by Assad, UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news #Syria #Saydnaya #BBCNews