Photo shows exhibit in Vietnamese war museum, not prison cell in Syria

Published on January 2, 2025 at 10:17
3 min read
By AFP Middle East & North Africa
Translation and adaptation Eyamin SAJID , AFP Bangladesh

Haunting images of Syria's notorious Saydnaya prison have emerged since Islamist-led rebels ousted president Bashar al-Assad after more than 13 years of civil war, but a photo circulating on social media does not show a cell in one of the country's infamous detention facilities. The photo in fact shows an exhibit at the War Remnants Museum in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City.

The photo, appearing to show an emaciated individual chained up in a cell, was shared on Facebook on December 9, 2024.

It was shared a day after Syria's Saydnaya prison was liberated by rebels, who hours earlier had taken the nearby capital Damascus having sent president Bashar al-Assad fleeing after more than 13 years of civil war (archived link).

Amnesty International dubbed the prison a "human slaughterhouse", saying it was designed to "exterminate" inmates.

"Syrian House of Mirrors," read the photo's Bengali-language caption, using a term associated with Bangladesh's Aynaghar detention centre (archived link).

The prison, which operated during ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's tenure, was given its name because its detainees were never supposed to see any other person besides themselves.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on December 24, 2024

The same photo was also shared elsewhere on Facebook here and here.

The image, however, does not show an individual imprisoned in Syria's Saydnaya prison.

Vietnam war museum

A reverse image search on Google led to a similar photo on the website of stock photo agency Alamy (archived link).

The photo's caption read: "A reconstruction of a cell commonly known as a tiger cage at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam."

According to its official website, the museum was founded on September 4, 1975 to "study, collect, conserve and display exhibits on war crimes and consequences inflicted on the Vietnamese people by foreign aggressive forces" (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the falsely shared photo (left) and the similar photo on Alamy's website (right):

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared photo (left) and the similar photo on Alamy's website (right)

AFP has also distributed similar images from the museum (archived link).

A subsequent keyword search led to another view of the exhibit shown in the false posts, in a YouTube video published on March 24 titled "Exploring the War Remnants Museum in Vietnam | A Harrowing Experience" (archived link).

AFP has debunked other misleading claims that have circulated in the aftermath of Assad's government in Syria here, here and here.

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