Violations perpetrated against Syrian children have been taking place since the launch of the Syrian Revolution in March 2011. These violations are dreadful, but take on a special poignancy on this day, “Universal Children’s Day” (November 20, 2014). The Syrian uprising was initiated in response to the arrest of number of children, who had written slogans denouncing the Syrian regime on walls in the province Daraa, February, 2011. These children were arrested, interrogated, abused, and tortured by Daraa’s security forces. Children have thus suffered since day one of the Syrian disaster.
The violations perpetrated against the Syrian children continued and worsened, with Syrian children arrested, tortured, sexually abused, forced to testify under torture, in some cases killed. In addition Syrian children have been used as human shields, displaced internally and forced to flee abroad, have been deprived of education, denied access to health, and in many cases have been forced to join armed groups. Furthermore, Syrian children have been targeted indiscriminately by snipers, shelling, airstrikes, which have often hit residential buildings and neighborhoods. To date the death toll among Syrian children exceeds 11,145, according to the documentation and statistics prepared by the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS).
So far this year, the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies has documented 3,004 children who have been killed in Syria. The breakdown of victims for each month is as follows:
- January, 2014: 325 children
- February, 2014: 402 children
- March, 2014: 325 children
- April, 2014: 373 children
- May, 2014: 290 children
- June, 2014: 283 children
- July, 2014: 218 children
- August, 2014: 272 children
- September, 2014: 270 children
- October 2014: 246 children
DCHRS has received reports of children and women being used as human child in conflict areas and battlefields, along with testimonies confirming the reports. All sides of the conflict in Syria have used children for their own advantage, with a complete disregard for their rights. For example, Syrian regime forces have used children as human shields when attempting to invade cities and regions controlled by the armed opposition. DCHRS has also documented cases of children being recruited to fight with the Syrian forces, loyalist militias, and with mercenary groups. This practice is not limited to forces loyal to the Assad regime: DCHRS has also recorded few cases of children recruitment by the armed opposition.
However in areas controlled by the Islamic State (ISIS) to the north and east of Syria, recruitment of children as soldiers has also been heavily documented. Children with ISIS have been allowed to witness extrajudicial killings and beheadings, in order to brutalize them, and so as to indoctrinate them. Thus, multiple parties in the Syrian conflict have been responsible for violations against children. DCHRS hopes that any group or person guilty of exploiting children for their own benefits will be swiftly brought to justice.
Detention centers and prisons in Syria are currently filled with Syrian children who have both witnessed, and been subjected to, forms of torture, both physical and psychological. In some cases children have died from torture in prison. The forms of torture that have been documented by DCHRS include ill treatment; beatings using batons, whips, and cables; electrocution; and in some cases children have had their bones drilled into, as in the cases of Hamza al-Kateeb and Tamer al-Shara, who were both tortured to death in regime’s prisons. Other forms of abuse documented have included leaving prisoners in stress-positions, multi-day periods of sensory deprivation.
Indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes in Syria have not only left many children dead, but also have created vast numbers of homeless and refugees. The destruction is not limited to residential buildings, but also has seen many public buildings devastated. These include, but are not limited to, educational institutions, schools, and places of worship. Consequently, many children have been deprived of years of education.
Syrian children living in refugee camps are exposed to difficult living conditions. Reports abound concerning the exploitation of young refugees in the camps. Access to education and healthcare is limited. In some countries such as Lebanon and Egypt, Syrian children have been used as cheap labor. Children in the refugees are suffering from psychological trauma, not only resulting from their experiences of the war, but also stemming from the poor conditions they now find themselves exposed to.
Today, on Universal Children’s day, DCHRS reaffirms the necessity to make serious efforts to end ongoing war crimes and violations against Syrian children. Furthermore, DCHRS notes that addressing these violations without addressing the perpetrators is insufficient. Criminals must be held to account.
DCHRS wishes to highlight the serious long-term impact of these aforementioned violations on the children of Syria, especially with regard to their rights to education. DCHRS urges all the relevant local and international organization to focus their efforts on building and improving skills among children, and on addressing the psychological and social impacts of these serious violations, which Syrian children have been afflicted by for more than three years and a half.
Moreover, DCHRS urges the cessation of any and all recruitment of children. Disciplinary actions must be taken against all individuals responsible for such acts, both directly and indirectly, up to and including faction leaders. Furthermore, all investigations regarding these matters should receive the full support of the international community.
Finally, DCHRS renews its calls for the Security Council to refer the Syrian case to the International Criminal Court, and to hold the individuals responsible for any violations, especially against children, accountable regardless of their position, religion, or political affiliation.
Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies
20-11-2014
For more information, please contact
Dr. Radwan Ziadeh, Executive director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies.
Phone (571) 205-3590
Email : radwan.ziadeh@gmail.com
Mr. Mojahed Ghadban, Communication Officer.
Telephone (479) 799-8115
Email: info@dchrs.org
DCHRS is an independent, non-governmental organization, established in 2005, located in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Its mission is to foster a spirit of support and respect for the values and standards of human rights in Syria. As such, DCHRS recognizes and adheres to all pertinent international human rights agreements and declarations issued by the UN.
DCHRS is a member of the following international networks:
- International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
- Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN)
- NGO Coalition for the international Criminal Court
- International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP)
- International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC)
DCHRS worked on a variety of documentation projects. Such projects included daily casualty reports, massacre reports, and other human rights violations reports. Also DCHRS has been working on advocacy and lobbying in different human rights institutions in order to educate and acknowledge about the deteriorating human rights situation in Syria.. After the launch of the Syrian revolution, the center increased its activities through working, communicating, and coordinating with many members and activists. Thus the center began documenting daily violations committed by the Syrian regime forces that can be classified as crimes against humanities and war crimes. Such violations included: extrajudicial killings, massacres, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, rape, torture in prisons. DCHRS opened local offices in Syria in order to document, collect, and observe human rights violations on the ground. DCHRS submitted those reports to many international and regional human rights organizations and communicated with the Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on Syria.