Blindfolded, handcuffed and bundled out of his secret prison for the first time in eight years, Bangladeshi barrister Ahmad Bin Quasem held his breath and listened for the sound of a cocked pistol.

Instead he was tossed from a car and into a muddy ditch…

Thousands of people have gathered outside Syria's Saydnaya prison, dubbed a "human slaughterhouse" by rights group Amnesty International. Following Assad's downfall, prisoners who were victims of his government are being released and reuniting with relatives.…