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How We Syrians Live in Fear of the Secret Police
(London Evening Standard) Sebastian Akkam - The overwhelming sense on the streets in Aleppo, where I live, is one of profound fear of the previously powerful Assad regime - which as it becomes increasingly threatened may engage in ever more reckless acts. The general fear is of unexpected arrest by unidentified agents for an unspecified crime. The SIS (Special Investigation Service) is an enormous, well-paid secret police service set up in the early 1970s with the help of the Stasi in East Germany. It uses torture to extract information about dissident groups, who are all described as enemies of the state. There is no right in this country to claim innocence. Suspects are immediately detained without access to family or to legal advice. Detention in prison is indefinite and the location is secret. Cells are often underground.