Russia Proposes Plan to Destroy Syrian Chemical Weapons; U.N. Chief Warns of Action

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – Russia has proposed that Syria turn over all of its chemical weapons to the United Nations for destruction. The plan involves the creation of safe zones within Syria where U.N. chemical weapons experts can gather and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons supply. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addressed the media regarding the plan.

United Nations chemical weapons experts take samples of sand near a part of a suspected chemical missile. (Photo Courtesy of AP/United Media Office of Arbeen)

“I am considering urging the Security Council to demand the immediate transfer of Syria’s chemical weapons and chemical precursor stocks to places inside Syria where they can be safely stored and destroyed,” Ban said.

Ban was optimistic at the suggestion of the plan, but took issue with the lack of action from a Security Council that has been suffering from “embarrassing paralysis”. He added that if Syria is found to have used chemical weapons that it would be an “abominable crime” that demands an international response, but did not elaborate on what exactly that response would entail.

U.N. chemical weapons experts are expected to present their report about an alleged August 21 chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government to the U.N. Chief later this week or next. The attack, reportedly carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad forces, killed one thousand four hundred people, many of whom were children.

The sudden twist in the chemical weapons saga was prompted by a comment by United States Secretary of State John Kerry when he responded to a reporter’s question asking how Syria could avoid U.S. military intervention. Kerry responded by suggesting that a potential strike could be avoided if Syria was to surrender all of its chemical weapons within a week.

Shortly thereafter, Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that he advised Syria that it should place its chemical weapons under international control if it would avert military intervention. Lavrov said that he expected “a quick and, I hope, a positive answer” from Syria.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem issued a statement responding warmly to Russia’s proposal, but refused questions and did not address any specifics of the proposal.

“Syria welcomes the Russian proposal out of concern for the lives of the Syrian people, the security of our country and because it believes in the wisdom of the Russian leadership that seeks to avert American aggression against our people,” said al-Muallem.

Meanwhile, President Obama expressed caution at the plan’s potential, stating that the plan could avert U.S. action “if it’s real”.

“It’s going to have to be followed up on,” he said. “And we don’t want just a stalling or delaying tactic to put off the pressure that we have on there right now.”

For further information, please see:

ABC – Russia, Syria Push for UN Chemical Experts Return –  9 September 2013

Al Jazeera – Syria welcomes proposal on chemical weapons  – 9 September 2013

CNN – Syria chemical arms plan promising ‘if it’s real,’ Obama says – 9 September 2013

Reuters – U.N. floats plan to destroy Syrian chemical weapons stock – 9 September 2013

Guatemalan Gunmen Kill 11 and Wound Others

By Brandon Cottrell
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – A group of unidentified men shot 29 people in the mountain town of San Jose Nacahuil just outside of Guatemala City this past Saturday.  The shooting left 11 dead and many of the wounded are in critical condition.  The majority of the victims were shot near the street as they patronized the local cantinas.

Bodies taken away by police after an attack in San Jose Nacahuil, on the outskirts of Guatemala City. (Photo Courtesy AP)

A local newspaper reported that prior to the shooting, a group of individuals were dismissed from one of the liquor stores that was attacked.  The individuals left but returned shortly wearing balaclavas and carrying guns.  They then began shooting at the people in the cantina, in the liquor store and in the street.

Guatemalan officials say that gang violence was the cause of the shooting and suggest that when the shooters could not buy alcohol from the cantinas, they opened fire in retaliation   Local residents, however, blame the shooting on the corrupted National Civil Police and cite the minimal gang presence in their town.  The NCP, which is frequently accused of corruption, extortion and is linked to local gangs, arrived Saturday night after receiving several anonymous calls reporting that an attack was imminent.  The NCP determined that no attack was imminent and left, but within an hour of their departure, the attack occurred.

Santos Peinado, a 28-year-old construction worker whose cousin, Santos Suret, was killed thinks that the NCP “had something to do with it, because they showed up and 20 minutes after they left there was the attack; why didn’t they stay and why didn’t they arrest the attackers?”  Another Guatemalan told reporters that the NCP threatened to shut a cantina down if the owner did not pay them a $60 bribe.  That owner, who was killed in the shooting, refused to pay.

Six years ago, San Jose Nacahuil residents who were dissatisfied with the NCP, set up a community police force to patrol the town with machetes.  The residents then expelled the NCP by burning down their police station. The community police force proved effective, as the town had some of the lowest crime rates in Guatemala, despite no official police force being present.

Though no arrests have yet been made and a motive remains unclear, the shooters get away car was found abandoned just outside of the town.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Guatemalan Bar Attack Leaves 11 People Dead– 8 September 2013

Global News – Gunmen Kill 11, Wound 18 In Poor Guatemala Town– 8 September 2013

Global Post – Drive-By Shooting Kills At Least 11 In A Rural Town In Guatemala – 8 September 2013

Washington Post – Gunmen Attack 2 Cantinas In Rural Guatemala Two, Killing 11 People And Wounding 18 More – 8 September 2013

Egyptian Military Conducts Assault against Militants Based in the Sinai

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – The Egyptian military has announced a full-scale military assault on militant groups in the Sinai Peninsula in response to militant attacks against the Egyptian state.

 

Egyptian Military launches attacks against militants based in the Sinai Peninsula. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

Since July of this year, militant Islamist groups in Sinai have killed dozens of Egyptian officials in an insurgency sparked frustrations over the military coup that took Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi out of power, and in response to the military government’s treatment of pro-Morsi civilians and Islamist party members, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt’s judiciary has taken steps to declare an illegal organization returning the democratically elected former president’s party to the status it had under the Mubarak regime.

The military campaign comes in direct response to a failed assassination attempt carried out against an Egyptian government official last week. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, a militant group based in the Sinai Peninsula whose name translates to “Supporters of Jerusalem”, has claimed responsibility for an attack last Thursday that targeted the Egyptian Interior Minister. The group promised more attacks in retaliation for the military government’s crackdown on Egypt’s Islamists.

The group issued a statement on its website that said, “God allowed us to break the security system of the minister of interior … through a suicide operation committed by one of Egypt’s lions that made the interior butcher see death with his eyes, and what is to come will be worse.”

Last week’s attack was carried out in broad daylight by a suicide bomber who detonated himself in a car next to Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim’s convoy as the minister left his home in Cairo. Two people were killed, including an unrelated passer-by, in the attack and 20 more were injured.

In response to the attack, the Egyptian military deployed several helicopters to the region on Saturday. The Egyptian military helicopters conducted several air strikes in the Sinai targeting the militants.

Israel has expressed support for the military campaign. Amos Gilad, a senior official in Israel’s defence ministry, who called the assault “impressive,” said in a speech that the airstrikes represent Egypt’s first ever serious counter-terrorism campaign in the Sinai region which borders the Jewish state. He said, “For the first time, we see a determined struggle against terrorism in Egypt’s Sinai, unrelated to the interests of Israel.”

Communications were jammed and internet access was blocked in the Sinai region on Monday as the Egyptian military resumed attacks against the militant groups in the region. On Monday, the military attacked the southern Sinai town of Rafah, which is allegedly a militant hideout.

So far, twenty people have been killed, and twenty more have been captured, since the Egyptian military began the operation. Since the operation began, people have begun fleeing villages in the region, heading to coastal villages and attempting to enter the Gaza strip though underground tunnels.

For more information please see:

ABC News – Egyptian Tanks, Helicopters Push Through Sinai – 9 September 2013

Al Jazeera – Egypt Military Strike Rebels In Sinai – 9 September 2013

Al Jazeera – Sinai Group Claims Attack On Egypt Minister – 9 September 2013

The Guardian – Egypt Announces Full-Scale Assault on Sinai Militants – 9 September 2013

Pakistan Releases Taliban Prisoners to Aid Afghan Peace Talks

By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan announced on Saturday that they are releasing seven Taliban prisoners in an attempt to improve the Afghan peace talks which have stalled.

Mr Karzai (left) visited Islamabad in August after an attempt to kick start peace talks in the Qatari capital of Doha foundered in June. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

The release of the prisoners was a long standing demand coming from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

“In order to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process, Pakistan is releasing seven Taliban detainees namely Mansoor Dadullah, Said Wali, Abdul Manan, Karim Agha, Sher Afzal, Gul Muhammad and Muhammad Zai.” the foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday.

Among those released, Dadullah is a senior militant commander, captured by Pakistani security force in February of 2008.

Kabul urged for the release of Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was deputy leader of the Taliban when he was arrested in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010. Analysts have confidence that his release is crucial to restoring goodwill between Kabul and Islamabad, the capital city Pakistan.

The announcement came after Afghan President Hamid Karzai pressed Pakistan to support peace talks between his government and the Taliban during a visit to Islamabad last week. Karzai was in Islamabad to meet new Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The Afghan President had identified Taliban havens in Pakistan as the main cause of increased violence in his country. Parts of Pakistan’s intelligence service have long been accused of aiding and providing the Taliban refuge on Pakistani soil; an accusation that Pakistan denies.

Yet, analysts are uncertain whether Pakistan has the influence to force the Taliban to negotiate with Afghanistan. The insurgents have publicly refused all contact with the Afghan government, branding it a U.S. puppet.

On Thursday Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul said that fears of a resurgent Taliban once the bulk of Western forces withdraw from Afghanistan next year are exaggerated. Roughly 87,000 U.S.-led NATO troops are to leave Afghanistan next year, leaving the country’s police and military troops in charge of security nationwide.

For further information, please see:

The Peninsula – Pakistan frees seven Taliban prisoners – 8 September 2013

BBC News – Pakistan ‘frees seven Taliban prisoners’ – 7 September 2013

The Telegraph – Pakistan frees Taliban prisoners to help Afghan peace process – 7 September 2013

Yahoo! News – Pakistan releases seven Taliban prisoners – 7 September 2013

SNHR: More than 10,000 children have been Killed in Syria by Government’s Forces Including 2,305 under the age of 10

Report prepared by Syrian Network for Human Rights

Rule 135. of Customary IHL

Rule 135. Children affected by armed conflict are entitled to special respect and protection.

Introduction:

In Mid February of  2012, The nature of Syrian conflict was described as a non-international armed conflict.  That means each party to the conflict should be bound to apply Common Article 3 to the four Geneva Convections as well as Customary Norms of International Human Rights Law relating to non international armed conflicts

Security council resolution 1325/2000: emphasizing all member states to fully implement  international humanitarian law and human rights, based violence during conflicts.

International criminal law provides means to implement international sanctions for serious violations against customary law , international law and international human rights law Where these crimes are seen as an individual commitment.  As noted, the international criminal law tries persons accused of such crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression, and war crimes.

As of February 2013, 122 states are parties to the Rome Statues of International Criminal Court, although the Syrian Arab Republic had signed the Rome Statue of International Criminal Court, it has not ratified the treaty yet

According to Article 13 of ICC

(Exercise of jurisdiction)

(b)     A situation in which one or more of such crimes appears to have been committed is referred to the Prosecutor by the Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations; or

The Security Council can refer Syrian file to the Prosecutor of ICC for investigation

 

Syrian Government

 

First : Unlawful killing:

Documenting the death toll, those killed by the Syrian Government Armed Forces

 International Humanitarian Law: Rule 89. Murder is prohibited

SNHR: by our daily monitoring, where over 100 members are deployed in all of the Syrian provinces and their direct connection to the events that took place on the Syrian territory, we have documented the killing of  at least 10,913 children by Government Forces.  Below, the annex contains our file names, photos, date and place of their martyrdom. Dated 21 August 2013

Among the 10,913 child-victims, there are:

  1. At least 530 field-executed, either stabbed to death like the victims killed in the Hwola village massacre, Karm Alziton neighborhood massacre, and Rifaai neighborhood massacre in Homs.  Finally Raas Alnabaa and Biyda village massacre in Baniyas, or shot as those killed in many places and villages all around Syria;
  2. 2,305 children as old as 10 years old;
  3. 76 are infants

Different and multiple ways that children were killed:

1-     Shelling;

2-     Sniping;

3-     Raiding and field executions;

4-     Shockingly: there are among at least 194,000 Syrian detainees.  More than 9,000 of them are children (under 18), Syrian governorates’ armed forces used extremely violent torture methods against them that barley differ from methods used against adults.  They don’t differentiate between children and adults in detention.

Many of those who were released told us that they heard the cries of the screaming children “we want our mother , we want to get out.”

Syrian government armed forces tortured to death at least  87 children that were arrested and tortured in prisons.  They even died while they were in the hands of the executioner.

Please find all the above mentioned details, documented carefully in the following annex (it contains information as of 4 June 2013, but the numbers are provided as of 20 May 2013)

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9Bj18tlYYKBZ0VEanJ6djR4MGM/edit

Child-victims deployed to all the Syrian Governorates as follows:

1-     2,252 children killed in Aleppo

2-     2,109 children killed in Damascus countryside

3-     1,743 children killed in Homs

4-     1,435 children killed in Idlib

5-     999 children killed in Daraa

6-     697 children killed in Hama

7-     642 children killed in Dier Alzoor

8-     493 children killed in Damascus

9-     176 children killed in Raqqa

10-   63 children killed in Lattakia

11-    75 children killed other nationalities

12-   70 children killed in Hasaka

13-   28 children killed in Qunaitra

14-   46 children killed in Tartous

15-     2 children killed in Swidaa

Examples of children from various Syrian Governorates narrates their own stories of shelling , sniping , and parents killing by Syrian Government Armed Forces

Aleppo Governorate

–          Aleppo/Albab road , 13-9-2012 , child tells how Syrian Government Forces warplanes bombed his house

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7LMpwpKi8E

–          Aleppo/Bustan al- Qasr ,20-8-2012, child tells the story of his injury cause Syrian Government Armed Forces shelling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knuJRUquKUQ

–          Aleppo / Masharqa – 18-4-2013, child tells how he was beaten by Syrian Government Shabiha

http://youtu.be/nvIqdo36auY

=============

Dier Alzoor Governorate

–          Dier Alzoor , 31-7-2012 , child tells how Syrian Government Forces warplanes bombed his house

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEaGhBVm3RU

=============

Lattakia Governorate

–          Lattakia countryside/Alhafa , child tell how Shabiha killed his mother

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB8Lhh0bXik

Daraa Governorate

–          Daraa/Dael village , 29-4-2012 , child tells the story of his injury by a sniper bullet for Syrian Government Armed Forces

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3JojTBSAy0

Hama Governorate

–          Hama countryside/Latamna , 13-4-2012 , child tells the details of Latamna massacre committed by Shabiha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azdk85wtKAM

Damascus countryside Governorate

–          Damascus countryside/Doma , 3-3-2013 , child tells how Syrian Government armed forces shelled his house

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GezSqhhBVxM

–          Damascus countryside/Kafar Batna , 8-11-2012, wounded child tells the killing of his sister cause of shelling by Syrian Government Armed Forces

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-6K81VaNqE

–          Damascus countryside/Doma , 3-3-2013 , child tells how his twin brother killed cause of Syrian Government Armed Forces shelling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymslf_HoU1E

Idlib Governorate 

–          Idlib/Sahl Alghab ,30-10-2012 , child tells how Syrian Government Armed Forces shelled his house

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDM-vW_Y58c

Homs Governorate 

–          Homs/Houla village , 17-1-2013 ,child tells how Syrian Government Armed Forces shelled his house

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvV_oKyVG0o

–          Homs/Karm Alzitoun , 19-3-2012 , child tells how Syrian Government Armed Forces shelled his house

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISk4GXyxgy8

–          Homs/Rastan , 24-7-2012 , child tells the story of his injury cause Syrian Government Armed Forces’ warplane shelling on his house

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn_RbamqR7Y

Despite the Syrian government’s repeated allegations that it is fighting Al-Qaeda, the Afghan terrorist organization, the attacks are deliberately, systematically and extensively aimed at civilians.  This is considered to fall under the definition of war crimes found under Article 8 of the Rome Statue.

Systematic and extensive Syrian armed forces attacks created thousands of child-victims in all of the Syrian governorates, and are therefore tantamount to crimes against humanity according to Article 7 of the Rome Statue.

Second :  proportion of the children killed

Civilians make up the largest percentage of victims killed by the Syrian Government Armed Forces.  Their proportion is 88% and the proportion of armed rebels killed is less than 12%.  This rate exceeded the proportion of civilian victims that were killed in World War I and II, which was 57 %.

The proportion of children killed is 12%, which is a very, very high and scary rate and strict proof that civilians are targeted by the Syrian government’s Armed Forces through systematic shelling by Scud missiles, the deliberate and barbaric random shelling with TNT by warplanes that  shell over the heads of civilians without any discrimination.

Third:  Arrest and detention of children

Article VII of the International Convention (International Human Rights law) clearly prohibits  torture and other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment.

SNHR estimates at least 9,000 children detained in security branches and prisons were arrested during the raids.  Many of them were arrested to exert pressure on their relatives to surrender.

Many surviving children told the story of their suffering and how the same cruel torturing methods similar to the ones used against adult men were used against them.

SNHR documented the most common torture methods used against children during their detention in Security Branches or prisons, according to testimonies of children survived from arrest:

1-     Using all methods of beating on all body parts by different tools such as stakes and electric cables, colloquially called robai, to beat on the soles and tread of the head.

2-      Completely uprooting fingernails.

3-     Removing hair from different parts of the body

4-     Cutting out flesh with forceps from sensitive organs

5-     Cutting out some parts of the detainee’s body; such as finger, flesh, or stabbing their back or stomach

6-     burning detainee’s skin using chemical acids or cigarettes.

7-     exposing the detainee after forcing them to take off all their clothes off to extremely cold temperatures.

8-     completely depriving the detainee of medical care as there is a lack of medical care in a large number of prisons.

9-     Preventing the detainee from using the toilet more than once or twice a day, forcing him/her sometimes to urinate on his self/her self.  If the detainee is allowed to use toilet, the period may not exceed a minute.  The detainee is also prevented from taking showers, or even going out for a breath of fresh air.

10-   Pouring cold water over the body after being hit and wounded.

11-    Cracking ribs.

12-    Insufficient amount of water and food, there is not even enough to feed a quarter of the detainees.

13-    Pouring boiling oil or water over legs

14-    Cutting the ears using clippers meant to trim trees.

15-    Hammering the detainees’ ears and nose with a mallet.

16-    Electric shocking, especially in breasts, knees, and elbows.

These torture methods led to the death of more than 87 children documented by name, date, photo, and video.

All those detained children were deprived of education and stopped their study years with another at least 150,000 children because of the destruction, shelling, and damage to almost 3,200 schools.  Also, dozens of  schools were broken into because of student involvement in anti – government demonstrations.  More than 140 teachers were killed by the Syrian Government’s Armed Forces.

Syrian Government starkly violated a number of Customary IHL rules

Rule 90. Torture, cruel or inhuman treatment and outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, are prohibited.

Rule 91. Corporal punishment is prohibited.

Rule 120. Children who are deprived of their liberty must be held in quarters separate from those of adults, except where families are accommodated as family units.

Fourth: Sexual Violence

By conducting multiple interviews with sexual violence victims, we found that there are dozens of minors (under 18) were raped.  We  can’t give accurate statistics, there are many cases that couldn’t be documented, and other concerned persons declined to talk about it, but our estimations refer to more than 400 rapes for minor girls in various Syrian Governorates.

Girls under 15 in Refai, Karm Alzaitoun and Baba Amr neighborhoods in Homs were raped by Syrian government armed forces, many similar cases took place against other minor girls in Damascus countryside, Idlib (precisely  Jisr Alshagour), Daraa, Hama, Lattakia, and other areas.  They are extensive  systematic methods that negatively and terribly reflect on the psyches of those girls since they were still virgins.  Some of them never knew what sex was, many of of them collapsed when talking about what happened to them.  Most documented rape cases occurred during the raid, others in detentions.

Rule 93. Rape and other forms of sexual violence are prohibited.

Rape and sexual violence associated non – international armed conflict, and can therefore be prosecuted as a war crime committed by the Syrian Government Armed Forces.

The practice of rape and sexual assault formed was one of the torture methods used in formal and informal detention centers, in violation of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law.

Fifth: Child Recruitment

We didn’t document the Syrian Government Armed Forces’ use of child soldiers in its ranks.

On the other hand, they used children and civilians as human shields during raids.

Rule 97. The use of human shields is prohibited.

Sixth: Refugee Children

SNHR estimates that more than 75% of the refugees in the neighboring countries are women and children.  According to the last statistic conducted by SNHR: the  number of Syrian refugees is 2,365,000 refugees including 1.1 million children under the age of 18.  Most of them suffer under the harsh living and educational conditions, and urgent need for long time psychiatric treatment is required for the horror of massacres, shelling, and destruction that occurred in their towns and villages.

Attachment and annexes contain samples of the extensive  systematic violations that took place in all the Syrian governorates against children of the Syrian people.

Homs Governorate:

–          Homs, Bab Siba, 28-11-2012 , child lost his eye , many operation conducted to him but in vain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKswurhhVU

–          Homs, Rastan, 12-11-2012 , trying to revive a child wounded by shelling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxpjcRObdso

–          Homs, Rastan, 3-4-2012 , child has serious injury cause of shelling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5Ifvk66FfM

–          Homs – Ter Mala village, 14-11-2012, child has serious injury cause of shelling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOvm10rQ0oQ

–          Homs – Khaldiah, 20-5-2012, child injured cause of sniper bullet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_TiulgQVn0

Daraa Governorate

–          Daraa -Jizzah , 12-7-2012 ,childe shot with three bullets by Syrian Army

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgqFMgezKOQ

Dier Alzoor Governorate

–          Dier Alzoor – Mohasan , 19-9-2012 , child lost his leg cause of shelling on bread bakery while he was trying to get some bread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fet6x5KJAlQ

Aleppo Governorate:

–          Aleppo – Albab , 18-11-2012 ,  child injured cause of shelling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_mlcx31rQE

–          Aleppo – Alshaar , 4-11-2012 , child injured cause of shelling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6MjvIDFs84

Hama Governorate

–          Hama , 18-5-2012 , child injured cause of shelling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AtLgu9p1rM

Damascus and countryside

–          Damascus countryside – Madaia , 5-8-2012 , child shot by a sniper bullet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_4cD2xpR4w

–          Damascus countryside – Moazamiat Alsahm , 12-12-2012 , child shot by a sniper bullet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_OKRoWCwUc

–          Damascus – Hajar Aswad , 13-12-2012 , child injury cause of shelling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1GxovcxZSE

Idlib Governorate

–          Idlib – Aldana , 26-7-2012 , child with severe injured cause of shelling , doctors trying to help him but in vain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-b2b08IMYs

Legal conclusions:

The Syrian government violated both International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law.

According to Article 7 and Article 8 of the Rome Statue, and many other rules of customary IHL (rules No. 89-90-93-97-120-135)

The Syrian Government Armed Forces committed extensive systematic war crimes and other crimes against humanity with its use of unlawful killings, torture, and sexual violence.

Armed Rebels

1-     SNHR documented the killing of 22 children, most of them killed during the shelling by armed opposition against areas loyal to the Syrian regime.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9Bj18tlYYKBWnVVdi1EZ3RJM0E/edit

2-     Most common violations committed by Armed Rebels is using children under 18 in dangerous non-combat roles (such as: support fighters, medical support, correspondence, espionage, cooking, and other services etc….) ,  and in some rare conditions, fighting and carrying weapons.

Conclusions:

1-     SNHR are watching the use of children in dangerous non-combat roles and other rare cases in combat roles and carrying weapons with concern, although it is not extensive.

2-     ICC considers the conscription and enlistment of children under the age of 15 and their use and participation in hostilities a war crime.

3-     SNHR didn’t document any case of carrying weapons for children under 15, but there is evidence and documented cases where children participated in  non-combat roles.

Condemnation and responsibilities:

Responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts, similarly, Customary IHL provides that that the state is responsible for all acts committed by a member of  its military and security forces.  Thus, the state is responsible of wrongful acts committed by its military and security forces including crimes against humanity.

Prohibition of crimes against humanity are among the rules of jus cogens or peremptory, and the punishment of such crimes is compulsory according to the General principles of international law.  Moreover, the crimes against humanity are the height violations of basic human rights, such as the right to life and prohibition of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In accordance with the principles of State responsibility in international law, Syrian Arabic Republic hold responsibility for such crimes and violations, the duty to ensure punishment of the perpetrators individually and the duty to provide compensation to victims.

SNHR holds all violations committed by Syrian Government Armed Forces to the Syrian government and the General Commander of the army and the armed forces, Bashar Al-Assad, and to all the officials of security branches, and to all  financial and moral supporters of those forces, with the legal judicial and material consequences to the victims and their families in addition to all the reactions that will come by the families  or their friends.

We also condemn violations committed by some armed rebel factions and demand interim government to take its responsibility in this regard.

Recommendations:

Human right council

1-     Call upon the security council and relevant organizations to take upon their responsibility towards what’s happening to Syrian children from killing, rape, and displacement.

2-     Exert pressure on the Syrian government to stop torturing, demand the release of all children and stop the pressure placed on their parents through their detention and torture.

3-     Hold the allies and supporter of the Syrian government: Russia, Iran, China,  morally and physically responsible towards what’s happening to the Syrian children.

4-     Serious attention of this case and give it a high priority and try to take care of torture-victims’ families.

Security Council:

1-     Decision to refer all the criminals and the involved to the ICC

2-     Warn the Syrian Government Troops of the repercussions of using brutal methods and systematic killing and send clear messages about the illegality of their use.

Arab League:

1-     Demand the Human Rights Council and United Nations to give this serious issue the right attention and follow up

2-     Serious attention of this case and give it a high priority, and try to take care of tortured child-victims and mentally, physically, and educationally rehab them.

3-     Political and diplomatic pressure on the Syrian Government Troops’ main allies – Russia, Iran, and China – to prevent them from continuous providing cover and international and political protection for all the crimes committed against the Syrian people and hold them morally and physically responsibility for all the excesses of the Syrian Government Troops.

Transitional Government:

1-     Media and Political deserved attention of this case,  and continuously raised in Syrian Friends Conferences.

2-     Demand Human Right Council and United Nations to give this serious issue the right attention and follow up.

3-     Form specialized committees to follow up on the conditions of detainees families and care of them financially and morally.

4-     Form specialized committees to provide moral and psychological support to rehab children and what’s happening to them from killing , rape , rape and displacement.

5-     Condemnation, accounting, and follow up torture committed by opposition armed factions.