The freed Al Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz has spoken out about her ordeal since her arrest in Syria late last month. Parvaz was missing for 19 days after arriving in Damascus to report on Syria’s anti-government protests. She was jailed in a Syrian prison before being deported to Iran. On Wednesday, Parvaz said she overheard the beatings of other prisoners in Syria.

Dorothy Parvaz: “I was in a Syrian detention center for three days, two nights, and what I heard were just savage beatings. I was handcuffed repeatedly, blindfolded, taken to a courtyard, left to hear these men being beaten. They all sounded very young. They sounded to be in their late teens, early twenties. So, it was an overall terrifying experience.”

Parvaz says she was treated “relatively fair” after being sent to Iran but that the abuse of Syrian prisoners haunted her thoughts.

Dorothy Parvaz: “At a certain point, you want to cover your ears. You don’t want to hear it anymore, because it becomes that much. I mean, it seemed endless. Mid-morning to late into night, at random times, you would hear just beatings and screams and cries. And you want to cover your ears. But someone should hear these people. Someone should understand what they’re going through. And if we all cover our ears — it seemed to me that Syria just wants everyone to cover their ears.”