At least 52 prisoners have disappeared from a Syrian jail following disturbances in 2008 that left 22 people dead, human rights groups have said. Families of the missing men say they have not been heard of since violence broke out at the Saydnaya Military Prison on July 5, 2008.
On the second anniversary of the violence, 18 of the missing prisoners now meet the international legal criteria of having been victims of "enforced disappearance", according to human rights groups, and questions remain over the fate of dozens more.
The Syrian government refuses to say what has happened to the missing or speak about the incident, which was apparently triggered by guards throwing prisoners' copies of the Quran on the floor.
Syrian human rights organisations say that on the day of the disturbances, security forces were sent to the prison, and now fear that many of the missing men could have been killed in ensuing violence. Ambulances were seen heading from the prison to a military hospital later that day, and the hospital was closed to the public for several weeks after the incident, leaving families unsure whether their relatives had survived.
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