After serving 32 years in a Syrian prison, Sohail Hamwi has finally returned to his hometown in Lebanon as rebels launched an offensive to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad. In 1992, Hamwi was working as a merchant in the northern Lebanese town of Cheka, selling various goods. On the night of Eid al-Fitr (or St. Barbara’s Day, a holiday similar to Halloween), a man came to his house to buy whiskey. Hamwi said he handed his 10-month-old son, George, to his wife and walked to his car to get the whiskey to sell. Hamwi said as Hamwi approached his car, a car full of men pulled up, forced him inside, and took him away.
Suhail Hamwi, who was held captive in Syria for 32 years and returned to Lebanon after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government, sits at his home in Cheka, Lebanon, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Neighbors welcome Suheil Hamwi, right, home in Chekka. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) It would be years before his family heard from him again. Hamwi was one of hundreds of Lebanese citizens detained during the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, from 1976 to 2005, and is believed to have been held in a Syrian prison for decades. He and other prisoners were unexpectedly freed on Sunday — those who had heard rumors about the Syrian opposition and its massive movement and discovered that prison guards had gone AWOL. Hamwi and the other prisoners left, and he said he would soon be among the first to return to the country from Lebanon. “I’m still afraid that this might not be true,” he told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday as he walked away from his home — the same one he left more than three decades ago. This new reality feels fragile, but he said, “I’ve found freedom”.
Suheil Hamwi poses for a photo at his home in Chekka. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Years of uncertainty and imprisonment
For years after the night he disappeared, Hamwi’s family had no idea where he was. It wasn’t until 16 years later that his wife discovered he was being held in Syria. Even then, Hamwi said, the reasons for his detention remained unclear. He said it took authorities another four years to finally tell him the charges: He was being detained because he was a member of the Lebanese Forces, a Christian political party that also served as a militia during Lebanon’s 15-year civil war that ended in 1990. The party fought Syrian troops and has opposed Syria’s military presence in Lebanon ever since. Hamwi said prison interrogations were mysterious.
Suhail Hamwi, left, who has served 32 years in a Syrian prison, reacts as a man shows him a photo of a missing Lebanese prisoner in Syria. (AP/Hassan Ammar) “They asked me my name, my parents’ names, my age and where I was born. That was it,” he said. Then he was sent back to his cell. “No lawyer, nothing.” He said he spent his first few years in Syria’s notorious Saydnaya prison before being transferred to other prisons and eventually to Latakia. He added that he was tortured during his first years in prison, “but after a while that stopped.” He said that for years he was in almost total isolation. He was alone in a small cell, surrounded by other Lebanese prisoners, Palestinians and Iraqis. He said his wife was able to visit him for the first time in 2008. She has visited him once a year ever since.
Suheil Hamwi sits on his balcony overlooking the sea in Cheka. (AP/Hassan Ammar)
The door opens to freedom
Last week, news spread from the prison of what was happening outside. “But we didn’t know that dreams would come upon us,” Hamwi said. In the early hours of Sunday morning, the prisoners discovered that the guards had disappeared and there was chaos. “The first door opened,” Hamwi said, describing how the rebels stormed the prison and began to open the cell doors. “Then others followed. Those who could not open the doors, began to come out of the walls.” The prisoners left, “towards the unknown,” he said. “I went with them.” Hamwi said strangers on the street helped him get back to Lebanon. He entered the country through the Arida border in northern Lebanon, where his family was waiting for him on the other side. Luxury cars, selfies and guns: Assad’s palaces, homes looted View gallery
Back home, at last
When Hamwi walked into the house, his two grandchildren greeted him. “It was the first time I saw them,” Hamwi later told the Associated Press, a hint of disbelief in his voice. In the living room, Hamwi lit a cigarette and took a slow drag. He took photos of the moments he had missed: George’s graduation photo; George and his wife; Hamwi’s smiling wife, Josephine, and granddaughter, Tara. Grandson Chris clutched Hamwi’s hand, giggling and calling out “Jeddo!” – Arabic for grandpa.
Suheil Hamwi, who served 32 years in prison in Syria and returned to Lebanon after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government, kisses his grandchildren at his home in Chekka, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP/Hassan Ammar) Josephine hands out candy, her hands steady despite the emotional toll of the past few days. Outside, neighbors and friends gather, their voices echoing in the narrow hallway outside the apartment. They sit in a circle on chairs, sharing laughter and memories, as plates of Arabic sweets and small chocolates are passed around. “Do you know me? Do you remember me?” a friend asks, shaking Hamwi’s hand. Hamwi pauses, studying the man’s face. “You are Jean! Yes, you are Jean,” he says. Hamwi has already been to the hospital, undergoing tests to assess the toll of 32 years of imprisonment. He must relearn life outside prison.
A woman distributes candy to celebrate the return of Suhail Hamwi to his home in Cheka, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. Suhail Hamwi, who spent 32 years in a Syrian prison, returned to Lebanon after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) He hopes the best is yet to come: a reunion with his only son, George, an engineer working in the Gulf. Hamwi said George told him the words he had always longed to hear during their first phone call: “I miss you. I love you. I’m waiting to see you.”