A new report shows
children have endured "unspeakable and unacceptable" suffering during
the conflict in Syria, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says.
Children have been sexually abused and tortured in government
detention, while rebels have recruited them in support roles and for
combat, the report warns.It estimates that more than 10,000 children have been killed. Many more have been injured or have disappeared.
Mr Ban urged both sides in the conflict to protect and uphold their rights.
While the UN has previously accused the government and rebels of grave violations against children, the report is the first to have been presented to the UN Security Council.
Rape
The report, which covers the period 1 March 2011 to 15
November 2013, says that in the early stages of the uprising against
President Bashar al-Assad, violations were mostly committed by the
Syrian military, intelligence services and pro-government militias.
Then, as the fighting intensified and the armed opposition became more organised, an increasing number committed by rebel groups were documented.
The report says children were arrested, detained with adults, ill-treated and tortured by government forces in large-scale arrest campaigns, particularly in 2011 and 2012.
Continued
Ban Ki-moon's report is useful in highlighting some dangerous
trends and the way they impact on children and civilians in general.
It shows how, as the conflict has become more militarised, rebel groups have gained access to heavier weapons, making their own attacks more indiscriminate and deadly.
The same goes for the increasing use by militant jihadist groups of suicide and car bombs, in which children are often among the victims, as well as the regime's mounting deployment of deadly barrel bombs and other heavy weapons.
The report also underlines the rebels' practice of recruiting minors for combat and auxiliary roles, making them liable both to attack and reprisal. It seems that if you are old enough to fight, you are old enough to be tortured and abused in a detention centre.
The report calls on all sides to halt abuses affecting children. Depressingly, it is predictable that the appeal will fall on deaf ears.
Then, as the fighting intensified and the armed opposition became more organised, an increasing number committed by rebel groups were documented.
The report says children were arrested, detained with adults, ill-treated and tortured by government forces in large-scale arrest campaigns, particularly in 2011 and 2012.
Continued
Analysis
It shows how, as the conflict has become more militarised, rebel groups have gained access to heavier weapons, making their own attacks more indiscriminate and deadly.
The same goes for the increasing use by militant jihadist groups of suicide and car bombs, in which children are often among the victims, as well as the regime's mounting deployment of deadly barrel bombs and other heavy weapons.
The report also underlines the rebels' practice of recruiting minors for combat and auxiliary roles, making them liable both to attack and reprisal. It seems that if you are old enough to fight, you are old enough to be tortured and abused in a detention centre.
The report calls on all sides to halt abuses affecting children. Depressingly, it is predictable that the appeal will fall on deaf ears.
Mr Ban's special representative
for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui, is scheduled to brief
diplomats on the report's findings next week.
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