Over 10,000 children killed in Syria
8 Feb news168.co.uk
UN investigators say in a new report that children in Syria have been
sexually abused in government detention, recruited to fight with the
opposition, tortured and used as civilian shields.
The report, the first to assess the impact of the nearly
three-year-old Syria war on children, was quietly presented to the
Security Council last week, as Syrian government and opposition
representatives met in Switzerland for peace talks under the auspices of
the UN
Secretary general Ban Ki-moon’s special representative for children
and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui, is scheduled to brief the council
next week on the report, which was not released publicly until Monday.It
estimated that at least 10,000 children had been killed and that “grave
violations against children” had been committed by “all parties to the
conflict” since it began in March 2011.
While the report did not discuss accountability, the evidence it
presents will inevitably invite discussion about how to pursue
accountability for accused war criminals.In 2011 and 2012, the report
said, children as young as 11 were held in government detention centers
with adults and, according to witnesses, subjected to torture in order
to coerce relatives to surrender or confess.
“Ill treatment and acts tantamount to torture reportedly included
beatings with metal cables, whips and wooden and metal batons; electric
shocks, including to the genitals; the ripping out of fingernails and
toenails; sexual violence, including rape or threats of rape; mock
executions; cigarette burns; sleep deprivation; solitary confinement;
and exposure to the torture of relatives,” the report said.Investigators
said they had documented reports of sexual violence against children in
government detention, “perpetrated mostly by members of the Syrian
intelligence services and the Syrian armed forces” against those who
were suspected of being affiliated with the opposition.
The government denies it detains children. In Geneva, Faisal Mekdad,
the deputy foreign minister, said in response to a question last week,
the day before the report went to the Security Council: “I categorically
deny there are any children being detained. Those are rumors.”
He accused opposition forces of abducting and killing children.
The UN investigators said they were unable to corroborate allegations
of sexual violence by opposition fighters because of what the report
called “lack of access.” Investigators were able to chronicle abuse by
opposition forces, including summary executions of children.
It received two reports from Hasakah province, in northeast Syria: a
16-year-old boy fatally shot last April by the Nusra Front, which is
aligned with al-Qaida, and a 14-year-old boy killed by a Kurdish group.
The Syrian government told UN investigators that at least 130
children had been killed by opposition forces.
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