The Biden administration on Wednesday issued its first round of Syria-related sanctions since taking office, designating a number of regime detention centers and prison officials, as well as a Turkish-backed Syrian rebel group.  

“The individuals and entities we are designating today are party to gross violations of human rights, including supervising the torture and killing of detainees," Andrea Gacki, the Treasury Department’s Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, told reporters.

The wave of sanctions targets eight military prisons, including the notorious Saydnaya prison outside the capital Damascus that rights groups have described as a “human slaughterhouse.” Also hit with sanctions were five senior officials within the Syrian intelligence apparatus who ran the prisons. 

Since the start of the civil war in 2011, hundreds of thousands have been detained in regime prisons, at least 14,000 of whom the Syrian Network for Human Rights estimates have been tortured to death. More than 130,000 people reportedly remain missing or are arbitrarily detained, including American citizens Majd Kamalmaz and Austin Tice.