Far' Falastin

Far' Falastine (Arabic: فرع فلسطين, lit. 'Palestine Branch'), also known as Branch 235, is a prison operated by Syrian Intelligence under the charge of Brig. Gen. Kamal Hassan between 2017 and 2020, located in Damascus, notorious for accounts of torture, coercive interrogation, and deplorable conditions related by its former detainees.[1][2]

The Branch was established in 1969 as the liaison between the Syrian government and the various Palestinian entities permitted to operate in Syria (Fatah, as-Sa'iqa, DFLP, and PFLP).[3] Although it has been associated with torture at least since 1990,[4][5] the prison gained widespread notoriety in the wake of the September 11 attacks due to detainees suspected of ties to terrorist organizations being sent there through extraordinary renditions, primarily by the United States, as a means of outsourcing torture. The detention center is reportedly quite large, run by some 500 employees,[2] but the majority of the reports regarding torture and abusive interrogation focus on the three underground floors.[1][6][7][8]

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