Thousands gathered in Damascus to honor Mazen Al-Hamada, an anti-Assad activist whose body was discovered bearing signs of severe torture. Al-Hamada, a prominent critic of the Syrian regime, was originally arrested in 2011 and later tortured. After seeking asylum in the Netherlands, he returned to Syria under threats, only to be arrested again and reportedly killed. His funeral procession underscored the ongoing brutality of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, with many mourning Al-Hamada as a martyr for freedom amid an ongoing search for justice for the hundreds of thousands affected by the conflict.