Summary: SRSG Coomaraswamy renews her call on Syria to immediately halt all violations against children.
[9 February 2012] - Following another violent day in Syria, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy reiterated her call to the Syrian authorities to stop the killing and maiming of children.
“Over the past months, the number of child victims in Syria has climbed into the hundreds and the rate is increasing,” SRSG Coomaraswamy said. “The situation is particularly harrowing in Homs where reports of the killing of children and shelling of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, are received daily.”
“The violations committed against children go beyond killing and maiming. We also have reported cases of detention of children charged with alleged association with armed groups, ill-treatment, and acts tantamount to torture which have resulted in some child deaths,” the Special Representative stressed. Additional reports point to the military use of schools by security forces.
The killing and maiming of children, in contravention of international law, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals count among the six grave violations against children defined by the Security Council in 2005. “My Office and partners will continue to report on the violations committed against children by all parties in Syria,” said SRSG Coomaraswamy.
Further Information:
- SYRIA: Children severely tortured in detention (3 February 2012)
- SYRIA: Activists report 'terrifying massacre' in Syrian city of Homs, with dozens killed (27 January 2012)
- SYRIA: Remembering child victims of military crackdown (17 January 2012)
- SYRIA: 6,200 killed, including 400 children (9 January 2012)
- UN: Security Council urged to refer Syria to the ICC (13 December 2011)
- SYRIA: Boy, 10, slain in home by sniper (12 December 2011)
- SYRIA: Assad denies responsibility for the killing of thousands of anti-government protesters (7 December 2011)
- SYRIA: Human Rights Council adopts resolution and establishes mandate for Special Rapporteur (5 December 2011)
- SYRIA: Children's rights violations feature in Special Session on Syria (2 December 2011)
- UN: Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (November 2011)
- SYRIA: UN rights panel voices alarm at reported torture of children (25 November 2011)
- SYRIA: Wave of violence targets children (23 November 2011)
- SYRIA: Death toll surpasses 3,500 (9 November 2011)
- SYRIA: Three children among latest killed (28 October 2011)
- SYRIA: NGOs appeal to UN General Assembly to condemn violence (24 October 2011)
- SYRIA: Concerns over “rampant torture” (7 October 2011)
- SYRIA: New report indicates over 5,000 deaths since March, including 148 children (Avvaz, 22 September 2011)
- SYRIA: Death toll tops 2,700, including 100 children (20 September 2011)
- SYRIA: Boy, 12, shot dead during funeral procession (13 September 2011)
- SYRIA: President of HRC appoints investigative commission to probe human rights violations (12 September 2011)
- SYRIA: Teen killed as protesters call for international protection (9 September 2011)
- SYRIA: Amnesty report shows 88 civilians killed in detention, including 10 children (31 August 2011)
- SYRIA: A child's killing freeze-frames tragedy (17 August 2011)
- SYRIA: Over 70 children killed since March (5 August 2011)
- SYRIA: Defectors describe orders to shoot unarmed protesters (18 July 2011)
- SYRIA: Second teenager tortured to death (16 June 2011)
- SYRIA: Soldier 'ordered to fire' on peaceful protesters (10 June 2011)
- More on children's rights in Syria
pdf: http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/pr/2012-02-09278.html
