“When they brought him home, I saw him. It was an indescribable feeling. From the horror of what I saw, he did not look like Hamza at all,” she said. “His face, his eyes, his entire body had changed.”
She said his body was severely disfigured and swollen to the point that he was almost unrecognisable, describing the moment as deeply traumatic.
“He was just a child, like any other boy. He did not go out to harm anyone,” she said, adding that she holds former regime officers responsible for his torture and death.”
Hamza was abducted in 2011 at the age of 13 and subjected to severe torture before dying in custody. His body was later returned to his family, and his case became a rallying point during the early days of the uprising.
“They do not care about the condition of a child, they do not feel responsible, and they are not normal human beings to do what they did to him, as he was subjected to the most severe forms of torture,” the bereaved mother said.
Syrian authorities have repeatedly announced arrests of individuals accused of abuses against civilians during the conflict between 2011 and 2024, describing such steps as part of efforts to pursue accountability.
In December 2024, Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia, bringing an end to the Ba’ath Party’s decades of rule that began in 1963. A new administration led by President Ahmed al Sharaa was formed in January 2025.
