Celebrations in central Damascus on first night without curfew

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00:00Well, what's happening right now here on the Mayadiz Square, which is really the center

00:03of Damascus and also a symbol of the Assad regime.

00:07Around this square you have the public TV, public radio, as well as other major administrations.

00:12And indeed tonight, and this is what people have been telling me, they say it is our first

00:17night of freedom after 55 years.

00:20People telling me that they can walk around, say what they want, think what they want,

00:24and that they're extremely happy.

00:26One man telling me that for as long as he could remember, this square was simply silent,

00:33just cars going around.

00:34It was guarded 24-7 by soldiers, by policemen, by the muhabarat, the intelligence services,

00:42and that basically it was a place where you would pass but not stop.

00:45Well, tonight people of Damascus have stopped.

00:48They are celebrating.

00:49They're enjoying themselves.

00:51And indeed they are having, well, a real celebration for this change because it is

00:58in fact the first night where there is no curfew since Bashar al-Assad has fallen from

01:03power.

01:04So one can expect, of course, celebration, an element of party time in inverted commas

01:09as to what is happening around you.

01:11But of course, at the back of all that, there must still be the sense of what happens next.

01:15Yes, there is an interim prime minister, but apart from that, are other things starting

01:19to take shape, James?

01:20Can you give us any sense of that?

01:26Well, indeed, yes, there is a new prime minister that's been appointed.

01:29The cabinet is to follow shortly.

01:31It is ongoing as we speak.

01:34And of course, well, when you ask people what they think of this new prime minister, this

01:38new transition government, well, they will tell you, you know, it's only until March.

01:42That's the first thing they say.

01:43And the second thing is they say, look, to be honest, we're not that bothered.

01:47Most people have told us, look, it cannot be worse than what we went through under the

01:51Assad rule.

01:53So they are all telling me that basically they want to trust, in a way, Ayatollah al-Sham

01:58and their men.

01:59They want to see how it goes.

02:00One man was telling me that what he wants overall, everything, is an opposition.

02:05He said, you know, in a democracy, you have a ruling party and you have an opposition

02:08that keeps it in check.

02:10And he says, you know, then power changes hands.

02:12And this is what we need and what we want here.

02:14Now, of course, what we are seeing here is that we're seeing Ayatollah al-Sham take control

02:19of the city.

02:20You have militiamen pretty much everywhere now in town.

02:25And just two minutes ago, speaking to one of them, one who'd actually taken part in

02:29the liberation of the prisons here in Damascus, and he was telling me, look, you know, I'm

02:33tired of fighting.

02:34I do not want to bear arms any longer.

02:37I've done my task, my job.

02:39What I want now is for Syria to move on, to be more peaceful.

02:44And he said, right now, yes, we are deployed across the city with our assault rifles.

02:49But the objective is for us to disappear and, you know, leave this space to a police force,

02:56a civilian force, in order to secure the lives and goods of the Syrian people.

03:04So very much already thinking about trying to take the fighters off the streets and transform

03:11this government, this authority that's come down from the north into something more civilian.

03:17And it's true that people are also saying that what they're listening to, what they're

03:20hearing, one man was telling me, look, al-Julani spoke to us and said we mustn't, you know,

03:26ask women if they want to wear the veil or if they're forced to wear the veil.

03:30He said, you know, we are hoping that they will keep that promise and that it will stay

03:34an authority that will be more open to minorities and, indeed, democratic.

03:41Indeed, talking the talk, it sounds, so far, extremely positive, doesn't it?

03:47Now, Abu Mohammed al-Julani now wants to be known by his actual real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa,

03:52al-Julani being his nom de guerre, if you like.

03:55He wants to sort of revert to his actual birth name.

04:00Nonetheless, his words today regarding those who took part in torture and killing of detainees

04:05are extremely harsh and extremely hard.

04:07There is clearly going to be this element of revenge about what happens next in Syria.

04:16Yes, of course, that is what everybody's worried about.

04:18And it's true that today with the crew, with Julie Dungelhoff and Sophia Amara, we went

04:23to visit one of these prisons, an infamous prison here in the city of Damascus, which

04:30is known as the Centre Palestine, which is one of the HQs, if you will, of the muhabarat,

04:38the security apparatus of Bashar al-Assad.

04:43What we saw there was, indeed, rather frightening.

04:45Now, it is a sprawling underground complex with cell upon cell in a maze of corridors

04:53where we could enter the cells.

04:55We saw, you know, just blankets on the floor, dozens of them, which shows you how crowded

05:00the system is.

05:02Just one toilet for one whole large cell and basically dire conditions, dire conditions.

05:08You could see pots on the floor with urine in them.

05:12The stench was very difficult to bear.

05:14And then we also saw another part of the building where there were underground cells, which

05:19are known as the tombs, which, indeed, are only about three metres squared, that don't

05:25have any windows, just have a small hole in the ceiling for air and a door that is completely

05:31opaque.

05:32And inside, you can see the drawings that were made by the prisoners as they were trying

05:37to count the days and nights through the light that came on and off, the little sunlight

05:42that came in these little holes in the ceiling.

05:45So, yes, that was a real, you know, testimony to the violence and the fear and the terror

05:51that was instillated in people under the Assad regime.

05:55And that, of course, is what people are celebrating here, the end of that oppression.

06:01James Andre in Damascus.

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