Syrian ex-prisoners haunted by horrors

On that day in the winter of 2017, the terrified young man had already been locked up for two years in war-torn Syria’s largest and most notorious prison, Sednaya.

Having been largely deprived of salt all that time in his meager prison rations, he brought a handful of the coarse white crystals to his mouth with relish.

Moments later came the second, grisly, surprise: As a barefoot Abdo was treading gingerly across the room, he stumbled on a corpse, emaciated and half-buried in the salt.