Diverse city has grown tense since fall of Assad regime, as security forces target groups loyal to the former dictator

Outside the deserted Homs political security directorate building, a group of freshly recruited armed guards were engaged in a heated debate about justice. Sado Junaid, whose sister and brother-in-law were detained and tortured in the squat facility’s underground prison, sided with Mahmoud al-Bashar, who as they spoke sometimes held the black coil of wire and a black-and-white rod once used to beat him and other detainees.

They clashed with another young recruit about whether they should be allowed to torture officers from the deposed regime of Bashar al-Assad before any accused of crimes face trial, or whether suspects should be immediately delivered to Syria’s nascent justice system.

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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/16/constant-fear-alawites-syria-homs-terrified-reprisals