Syria's "Caesar" comes forward: Whistleblower of torture photos exposes Assad’s brutality

Farid al-Madhan, known by the alias "Caesar," has come forward, revealing his true identity after years of hiding.

As a senior lieutenant in Syria’s military police, he was responsible for photographing the bodies of victims tortured and killed by the Assad regime during the brutal crackdown on the Syrian uprising, Caliber.Az reports referring to foreign media.

“I am Senior Lieutenant Farid al-Madhan, head of the forensic department in the military police in Damascus, known as Caesar. I am from Daraa, the cradle of the Syrian revolution,” al-Madhan said, his light gray beard a contrast to his sharp suit and white shirt. He revealed that he worked for the regime in Damascus, living in the town of al-Tall on the city's outskirts.

Al-Madhan’s role involved documenting the bodies of detainees who had been arrested at military checkpoints, in protest squares, or simply for calling for freedom. His mission was to photograph the victims, including men, women, and children, often killed in custody. In the early days of the Syrian conflict in 2011, the death toll ranged from 10 to 15 victims a day, but this number quickly soared, eventually reaching 50 per day.

Describing his work, al-Madhan emphasized that the security chiefs were deeply loyal to Bashar al-Assad and used the photographs of the dead as a means of demonstrating their allegiance. This grisly job became a daily routine for him until he defected in 2014, escaping with over 55,000 photos documenting the horrific scale of torture and murder. These photos, known as “Caesar’s Dossier,” reveal the systematic abuse faced by detainees in Assad’s prisons and the deaths of at least 11,000 individuals at the hands of regime forces.

Published by Anadolu Agency in 2014, the photos became an irrefutable testament to the regime’s cruelty, with al-Madhan’s defection sparking international calls for accountability. His photos continue to play a central role in human rights investigations into Syria’s civil war.

With the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, following the capture of Damascus by opposition forces, al-Madhan's revelations and the brutal images he captured have gained new significance. The regime’s collapse has unearthed mass graves and further evidence of widespread atrocities, bringing to light the regime's deep-rooted system of torture and executions. 

By Tamilla Hasanova