Syrian Arab Republic: Children's Rights References in the Universal Periodic Review

 A compilation of extracts featuring child-rights issues from the reports submitted to the second Universal Periodic Review. There are extracts from the 'National Report', the 'Compilation of UN Information' and the 'Summary of Stakeholder's Information'. Also included is the final report and the list of accepted and rejected recommendations.

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Syrian Arab Republic - Twenty-Sixth Session - 2016

National report

Compilation of UN Information

Summary of stakeholders' Information

Accepted and Rejected Recommendations 

 

National report

3. The armed terrorist groups, and those who support, finance, sponsor and arm them, continue to demolish all humanitarian and ethical values and the noble values that have characterized the Syrian Arab Republic. These terrorist groups commit the most abhorrent crimes against Syrian citizens, including murder, kidnapping, burning down and destroying schools and hospitals, sexual violence, recruiting child soldiers, preventing humanitarian assistance from reaching areas controlled by such groups, in addition to wanton destruction and sabotage, carrying out suicide attacks, plundering national resources, and draining the national economy.

National mechanisms for the protection of human rights

(b) National (Regional) Committee on Monitoring the Rights of the Child in the Light of the Crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic: This Committee was established by Decision No. 2310 of 20 August 2013, and was given responsibility for documenting violations committed by the armed groups against children, preparing national reports on violations to which children have been subjected, establishing a database and conducting a study on cases of recruitment of child soldiers and using children in combat actions.

(c) Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and Population: This Commission was established by Law No. 42 of 20 December 2003, which was amended by Law No. 6 of 2014. It was entrusted with protecting families, consolidating their cohesiveness, and preserving their identity and values. It is also responsible for monitoring and coordinating efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and for proposing amendments to legislation governing family and population matters.

Promotion and protection of human rights in practice

Civil and political rights

36. Despite the conditions the country is experiencing, and the attacks by armed terrorist groups against the judiciary in various parts of the Syrian Arab Republic, the judiciary institutions have continued to perform their functions to protect human rights. Criminal cases examined in 2010-2015 broke down as follows: 648 cases involving trafficking in persons, 8,744 cases involving corruption, 5,347 cases involving murder, 3,335 cases involving violence against women, and 2,015 cases involving violence against children.

Economic, social and cultural rights

Under the heading of right of the child, the danger to which children are exposed have increased as a result of the crisis: recruitment of child soldiers for use in combat actions, trafficking in children, and physical and sexual aggression against children. New hazards have arisen as a result of the crisis, such as dropping out from school, child labour, separation of children from their families, and failure to register children in personal status registers. As part of its constitutional responsibility, the Government has taken a number of steps to strengthen and protect children’s rights, including enacting laws, establishing committees and drawing up national plans.

51. With regard to preventing children from dropping out of school, Law No. 7 of 2012 was enacted, which obliges all parents or guardians of Syrian children between the ages of 6 and 15 to send them to school at the basic education level, and prescribes legal penalties for those who allow such children to drop out of school.

Terrorist acts and their impact on human rights

59. Systematic destruction, which affects public and private property, facilities and infrastructure, such as schools, clinics, palaces of justice (judicial complexes), courthouses, electric power stations, water facilities, and which constitutes a drain on natural wealth and resources.

• Violation of the right to education: armed terrorist groups have violated the right to education in areas controlled by them, where they have abrogated official Government curricula and replaced them with curricula that are consistent with takfīrī Wahhabi thought. This has led to students at all levels of education losing education opportunities and deprived more than 670,000 Syrian pupils of their education, according to a 2015 report by UNICEF. Such terrorist groups have transformed schools and hospitals, after plundering them of all their contents, into detention centres, barracks and centres for military training and torture. Between the beginning of the crisis and 2015, some 3,549 schools were totally or partially damaged, in addition to the damage inflicted on a large number of nursery schools. preventing local inhabitants from having their children vaccinated on the other. Those terrorist groups also bring in vaccines across the border without respecting the necessary medical conditions and guidelines for the transport of vaccines, which means that they are subject to spoilage and degradation. Furthermore, suspect groups or individuals without the necessary experience or qualifications from the Government health authorities are not trained in administering such vaccines, which entails grave risks to the lives of innocent Syrian children living in those areas. In Idlib Governorate in 2014, for instance, such an incident claimed the lives of 15 children, which violated the right of children to health and corporal integrity. The inoculation rate was 100 per cent in 2010, but had dropped by the end of 2015 to 68 per cent for tuberculosis, 60 per cent for quadriplegia, and 65 per cent for tetanus.

• Forced marriages and child marriages: these phenomena are becoming very prevalent in the areas controlled by the terrorist groups: young girls are forced to get married owing to the deteriorating material circumstances of their families on the one hand, and for fear of being attacked on the other. This phenomenon is also spreading in refugee camps, where young girls are trafficked using “camouflaged marriage” as a pretext, although most marriage contracts are not registered — all these things are reproduced and described in United Nations reports and reports of international human rights organizations. The tragedy of young Syrian girls who are trafficked has been highlighted for the whole world to see, for instance in a UNICEF report which indicated that the rate of forced marriages among young Syrian women in refugee camps in neighbouring countries had doubled with respect to what it was at the beginning of the crisis, reaching 32 per cent in the first quarter of 2014.

• Recruitment of child soldiers: the phenomenon of the recruitment of child soldiers has become prevalent in the areas controlled by the armed terrorist groups and in camps in neighbouring countries, with the groups exploiting the socioeconomic conditions of children and their families for that purpose. Armed battalions have been formed under various names, such as Ashbāl  al-Zarqāwī (al-Zarqawi Cubs), Ashbāl   Jabhat   al-Nuṣrah (Jabhat al-Nusrah Cubs) and Ashbāl   al-Khilāfah (Caliphate Cubs), with children ranging from 5 to 15 years of age, which constitutes a violation of their rights, makes them armed combatants, and throws them into the thick of terrorist actions, in violation of all relevant international instruments on the rights of the child.

• Crimes of systematic kidnapping: since the beginning of the crisis the phenomenon of kidnapping has become prevalent, and this was previously unknown in Syrian society. Armed terrorist groups have kidnapped a large number of people from their villages after having entered them or from villages which they control, for their own purposes, such as using them as human shields or for digging tunnels or for trafficking or use as child soldiers (persons kidnapped from the industrial area of Adra, the countryside round Aleppo, Homs, Deir al-Zor and Latakia). Kidnap operations are accompanied by acts of systematic torture leading even to death. In view of the gravity of this fact, Syrian legislators enacted a law on crimes of kidnapping in 2013, which criminalized kidnapping for political purposes, for

Refugees

74. Reports by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UNICEF and other United Nations bodies have confirmed a deterioration in the security, social, health and economic situations in the refugee camps, many of which have been transformed into training camps for terrorists. Organized crime has become rampant in the camps, as have rape, prostitution, human trafficking, early marriage, child labour, and recruitment of child soldiers to take part in combat. The majority of children in those camps do not go to school, and theft and sabotage of humanitarian resources are widespread, all of which constitutes flagrant violations of all human rights.

Human trafficking

76. Before the crisis, the Syrian Arab Republic occupied third place worldwide with regard to the absence of the crimes of trafficking in persons and human members. But the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic and the waves of refugees fleeing from the crimes of the terrorist groups meant that large numbers of Syrians fell victims to networks of human traffickers, especially in the countries of asylum and the refugee camps of neighbouring countries. United Nations reports, including those by UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have confirmed a significant and ongoing rise in the rate of organized crime in the field of trafficking in persons, especially young Syrian girls.

77. Trafficking in human members has become prevalent in the border regions of the Syrian Arab Republic. Investigations have confirmed the existence of networks of traffickers in human body parts of Syrian citizens and children in particular. These traffickers pretend to be humanitarian organizations which transport wounded persons and victims of attacks, and use field clinics staffed with doctors of various nationalities. All this is taking place with the full knowledge of the authorities of the neighbouring countries of the Syrian Arab Republic.

The judiciary and provision of justice

• Law No. 11 of 2013 prohibiting the recruitment of child soldiers and increasing the penalty for rape. 

Internal migrants

• Health centres or medical points have been opened within major refugee shelters and compounds, and mobile medical teams and mobile hospitals have been brought into use in order to offer health services, including childbirth services. 

Human trafficking

(e) Rehabilitation of the department responsible for the reception of women and children located within the Bureau to Prevent Human Trafficking, so as to be in line with international standards;

(f) Publication of a guide to the provision of psychological and social support for women and children victims of human trafficking and in particular for children who have been recruited as child soldiers;

Sexual violence

89. Women victims are referred to special care centres belonging to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, and some such centres are attached to civil society associations. Such victims receive treatment and health services and undergo rehabilitation programmes for social reinsertion. Currently being completed is the rehabilitation of the family protection unit, which is in its initial stages; the unit should soon be ready to receive victims of sexual violence, both women and children, and to offer them health and psychological support, to rehabilitate them and insert them in society in accordance with international standards.

Children and prevention of recruitment of child soldiers

90. Law No. 11 of 2013 was enacted to prevent the recruitment of children as child soldiers for use in combat operations of whatever kind, and imposed stronger penalties on the perpetrators of that crime. Law No. 7 of 2012 on dropping out from school made it obligatory for parents and guardians of children to enrol them in basic education schools.

Work is being done to develop the legal framework governing subjects of direct impact on children, the most important being preparation of the draft law on the rights of the child with a view to harmonization with international standards.

91. A national plan has been drawn up to combat the recruitment of child soldiers, in cooperation with the relevant government authorities, UNICEF and UNHCR, addressing legal aspects, training, rehabilitation, psychological and social support, awareness-building and access to child soldiers, and stresses that child soldiers should be dealt with as victims. A guide has been prepared to raise awareness of individuals working in the field of prevention of recruitment of child soldiers.

92. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour provides safe premises for children liberated from having been kidnapped, and other children who had been taken prisoner or recruited as child soldiers by various takfīrī terrorist groups. In addition, children who fall afoul of the law are referred to reform institutions, where their cases are examined from all angles, including psychological and social angles, by qualified specialists with a view to devising the programmes and assistance that ought to be provided to them.

93. During the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic, the National Committee on Monitoring the Rights of the Child elaborated a draft national plan of work on preventing and putting an end to the three main violations against children contained in the annex to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, which are killing and maiming, sexual violence against children, and attacks on schools and/or hospitals.

94. A National Strategy was elaborated for the Care and Development of Early Childhood 2014-2020, using a participatory approach to drawing up this plan from local plans, which, taken together, have all helped to frame the strategy and ensured the broadest possible public participation in its development under the supervision of the Syrian Office for Family Affairs and Population.

95. A review document was prepared on monitoring, reporting and referral mechanisms for the protection of children, containing nine different cases: recruitment of child soldiers, sexual aggression, child labour, trafficking in children, homelessness and begging, registration of children, children lacking family care, and dropping out from school. The document focused on reviewing and assessing monitoring, reporting and referral mechanisms, the establishment of new mechanisms ensuring rapid and flexible response to various types of protection for children and capacity-building for professionals in this field.

96. A national plan has been drawn up and implemented to reduce child labour, in cooperation with the relevant authorities, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF, containing a number of activities and studies aimed at helping children and their families to get rid of the worst forms of child labour.

97. The Ministry of Social Affairs has implemented seven programmes on social protection involving a series of programmes targeting children and comprising family tracking, reunification of children, psychological and social support programmes in emergencies, and programmes for the implementation of the early childhood strategy. A project was implemented for social protection in cooperation and coordination with UNHCR and civil society, with a view to creating an effective system for social protection which is in accordance with international standards.

98. In cooperation with UNICEF, the Ministry of Social Affairs has begun a project on family tracking and reunification consisting of monitoring and documenting cases and preparing mechanisms for tracking and providing alternatives to temporary care. Mechanisms have been devised for family reunification, in addition to the adoption of long- term alternatives in cases where no information is available about the family. The programme has been implemented on an experimental basis in Homs.

99. The Syrian Office of Family Affairs and Population has provided training to voluntary associations and organizations concerned with the rights of the child on guiding principles for the preparation of reports, and has invited them to participate in the fifth national report which is to be submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Syrian Office for Family Affairs and Population has also prepared a guide on minimum standards for psychological and social support for children in the crises and on training for government and civil society authorities on the contents of that guide.

100. An executive plan has been drawn up to address the phenomenon of begging, and a national committee has been established to combat that phenomenon.

Education

101. The Syrian Government has taken a decision to reduce the number of schools used as refugee shelters during the years of the crisis. The number of schools used as refugee shelters decreased significantly from 1,994 in 2011 to 205 by the end of 2015, and schools used as refugee shelters were rehabilitated once they were evacuated and put back into use.

102. In view of the Government’s desire to ensure that children have access to education, it is continuing to pay teachers’ salaries even in regions controlled by the armed terrorist groups. The Government has also addressed the situation of pupils not enrolled in schools because of the terrorist groups and has drawn up a programme for alternative education based on compensating for the years of study that were lost by means of programmes designed for that purpose and in cooperation with UNESCO and UNICEF. Those programmes include intensive education, self-learning, compensatory education and remedial lessons in school clubs, vocational education training courses for dropouts from education, the Syrian electronic school and education for itinerant groups.

104. A cooperation was signed between the ministry of education and UNICES. 2015 and the implementation of the Alternative Education Programme in order to compensate children for the academic skills they missed acquiring during the period of crisis; alternative education was offered to approximately 13 per cent of the total number of pupils. An education sector working group was established in 2012, headed by the Ministry of Education in cooperation with UNICEF, with the aim of coordinating the numerous responses to education initiatives in emergency situations. Among its tasks are ensuring that children affected by the crisis receive education opportunities in a safe environment and that job opportunities are provided to teachers.

Persons with special needs

110. A national plan has been drawn up containing a number of measures and activities aimed at enhancing the economic and social situation of this category or persons from the point of view of care, rehabilitation, empowerment and social insertion. Inclusive schools have been established in accordance with international standards in order to ensure the right to education and to provide services that are geared to individual differences. The insertion programme is assessed every year with a view to extending its positive results to all Syrian schools; the number of pupils with disabilities mainstreamed in Ministry of Education Schools is approximately 1,000 in 120 inclusive schools comprising all educational levels. A central council for disabled persons has been established in which associations and institutions working on disability issues are members. The council monitors the implementation of the national plan for disabled persons.

Other efforts

114. The Syrian Government is endeavoring to identify priorities despite the conditions of the crisis, stressing the provision of shelter and relief and responding to humanitarian needs, promoting social reality, focusing on a protection regime for the categories most affected by the war (women and children), and framing the necessary mechanisms to provide protection and effective treatment of the various ramifications of the crisis, to achieve national reconciliation and to continue to address the topic of reconciliation (liberation of kidnapped persons, the search for persons disappeared, etc.), finding solutions to those issues, strengthening the role of civil society and involving citizens in their national and social responsibilities.

 

Compilation of UN information 

Background and framework 

Scope of international obligations

International human rights treaties

2. The Committee on the Rights of the Child encouraged the State to withdraw its general reservation and its reservation to article 14, of CRC. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called upon the State to withdraw its reservations to articles 2 and 15 (4) of CEDAW.  

B. Constitutional and legislative framework

5. The Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the State to enact the Child Rights Bill and comply with CRC. It recommended prohibiting by law violations of OP-CRC-AC.22

A. Equality and non-discrimination

12. It was concerned about married women being unable to travel due to child custody restrictions requiring the father’s consent and recommended that the State facilitate women’s freedom to travel with children.

13. It was concerned at the adverse impact of statelessness on women and their children who were excluded from services restricted to nationals.

17. The General Assembly strongly condemned the widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and the violations of international humanitarian law by the authorities and its affiliated (shabbiha) militias, including the use of heavy weapons, aerial bombardments, cluster munitions, ballistic missiles against civilians, and attacks on schools, hospitals and places of worship. The Special Representative of the Secretary- General for Children and Armed Conflict (“the Special Representative”) reported that the use of barrel bombs by government forces on civilian objects had resulted in huge numbers of children being killed or severely injured. The Human Rights Council condemned the indiscriminate or deliberate targeting of civilians, noting that the excessive and violent suppression of civilian protests by the Syrian authorities fuelled the escalation of armed violence.

18. The General Assembly condemned the large-scale use of chemical weapons, which constituted a serious violation of international law, and stressed that those responsible for any use of chemical weapons must be held accountable. The Committee on the Rights of the Child was appalled by the killing of Syrian children in an alleged chemical attack, considering it a gross violation of CRC.

23. The Committee against Torture expressed concern at large-scale attacks by security forces against civilians, resulting in numerous summary executions of elderly people, women and children fleeing the attacks on towns and villages, at bombardments of residential areas and at the demolition of houses. It was concerned about the extensive gross violations of children’s rights and deeply concerned at consistent and corroborated allegations about the existence of widespread and systematic violations of the provisions of CAT against the civilian population. The Committee on the Rights of the Child strongly urged taking all measures to protect children. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reminded the State of its obligations under CEDAW, which continued to apply during conflict.

26. The Committee against Torture expressed concern about reports of the death in custody of detainees following torture; and the habitual use of torture as a tool, which appeared to be a deliberate part of the State’s policy. The Committee on the Rights of the Child was concerned about the reported cases of children who died of torture, and that detained children were still at risk of torture. The Special Representative made related observations.

30. The Committee against Torture expressed concern about the extensive reports of sexual violence committed by public officers, including against male detainees and children.94 The Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Special Representative were concerned about cases of children being exposed to rape and sexual abuse while in rehabilitation. The Special Representative requested the Government to prosecute perpetrators of such acts, and provide reparations.

32. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern at consistent reports indicating that displaced Syrian women and girls were at heightened risk of sexual violence and sexual exploitation, and of forced marriages and child marriages. The Committee on the Rights of the Child raised similar concerns and urged that early and forced marriages be prohibited.

33. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was concerned at “honour” crimes. It recommended the repeal of articles 192, 242 and 548 of the Penal Code to end mitigating circumstances for honour crimes. The Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the State to ensure that perpetrators of honour crimes were given sanctions commensurate with the gravity of these crimes.

34. The Special Representative reported that the United Nations had verified cases of the recruitment and use of children in hostilities by parties to the conflict. Most of the cases documented involved armed groups, including pro-government armed groups. Abduction of children had become increasingly prevalent, carried out mainly by ISIL. The Special Representative recommended that the Government protect children and prevent their recruitment.108 The ILO Committee of Experts noted that numerous armed groups were reportedly recruiting children and using them for logistics and as combatants. It noted that ISIL had instrumentalized and abused children on a scale not seen before in the conflict. It urged the Government to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to stop the forced recruitment of children into armed forces. With reference to Security Council resolution 2068 (2012), it urged the Government to ensure that persons who forcibly recruited children were prosecuted and punished.

35. The Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the State to repeal article 170 of the Personal Status Code and the provisions of the Penal Code that authorized corporal punishment.

C. Administration of justice, including impunity, and the rule of law

37. The Committee against Torture noted the Commission’s finding that “evidence exists that... individuals, including commanding officers and government officials, bear responsibility for crimes against humanity and other gross human rights violations”. The Commission stated that crimes against humanity were being committed by government forces and by ISIL. War crimes by the belligerents were rampant. The Commission recommended that its report be transmitted to the Security Council for the Council to take appropriate action by referring the situation to justice, possibly to the International Criminal Court or an ad hoc tribunal.114 The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on all Governments with influence in the State to intervene to stop human rights violations and abuses committed by the warring parties, urging Security Council members who had consistently blocked referral of the State to the International Criminal Court to live up to their responsibilities and refer the State to the Court.The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the State to abolish Legislative Decrees 14/1969 and 69/2008 granting immunity from prosecution to security and intelligence agencies. The Committee on the Rights of the Child took note of the establishment of a specialized judicial committee to investigate human rights violations committed since the start of the protests.

38. The Commission recommended that the international community adopt stronger remedial and preventative actions in Security Council resolutions, focusing on the suppression of war crimes and combating impunity benefiting ISIL, and engaging international accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, to hold individuals, including ISIL commanders, responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Committee on the Rights of the Child supported the calls by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary-General for a prompt, independent, effective and transparent investigation into the human rights abuses committed since March 2011.

39. The Committee against Torture recommended that the State establish an independent commission of inquiry into the serious allegations of human rights violations committed by security forces and armed groups acting under the control or with the consent or acquiescence of State authorities and prosecute and punish those responsible.

40. The Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended raising the legal age of criminal responsibility to at least 12 years.

D. Right to privacy, marriage and family life

41. The Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the State to set the minimum age of marriage at 18 for girls and boys and to repeal the provisions of the Personal Status Code condoning early marriages.

42. It was concerned that birth registration in remote areas was problematic. It urged amendment of the Personal Status Code to recognize all mixed marriages to ensure effective registration of all children.

43. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and UNHCR recommended that the Government adopt legislation permitting women to transmit Syrian nationality to their children and that it apply article 3 (d) of the Nationality Code, to ensure the right to nationality for potentially stateless children born in the country.

F. Freedom of religion or belief, expression, association and peaceful assembly, and the right to participate in public and political life

46. The Committee against Torture expressed its concern about killings of journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders, and the arbitrary arrests of activists as a measure of intimidation and retribution. The Committee on the Rights of the Child was concerned at continued government restrictions on the work of human rights organizations. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women urged the State to release women activists and end impunity for acts such as arbitrary detention, physical abuse and sexual violence.

H. Right to social security and to an adequate standard of living

53. The Committee on the Rights of the Child remained concerned that a sustained strategy to address the structural determinants of poverty was not being adopted. The Secretary-General reported that three out of every four Syrians lived in poverty, that essential services across the country were operating at reduced capacity or were closed, and that unless there was an end to the fighting, living conditions would deteriorate further. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern at the fact that the vast majority of the population in need of humanitarian assistance were women and girls.

J. Right to education

59. The Commission indicated that over 3 million children had ceased to attend classes. Schools in areas of bombardment regularly suspended their operations. Many of the millions out of school may never complete their education. This not only affected the future prospects of Syrian children, but also those of the country and the region.150 The Special Rapporteur on internally displaced persons noted that education must be considered a high priority for internally displaced children.

L. Persons with disabilities

63. The Committee on the Rights of the Child was concerned that care and rehabilitation services for children with disabilities were mainly provided by civil society organizations. It urged the State to allocate resources for implementing plans for children with disabilities. It recommended that the State improve the quality of inclusive education.

64. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women urged the State to address the specific risks and particular needs of internally displaced women with disabilities.

M. Minorities

65. The Committee on the Rights of the Child was concerned that Legislative Decree No. 49/2011 regulating the status of Syrian Kurds might benefit only Kurds registered as “foreigners” (ajanib).157 It urged the State to guarantee that all children of Syrian-born Kurdish parents, including children of stateless Kurds (maktoumeen), could acquire Syrian nationality.

N. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers

69. UNRWA reported that prior to 2011, the State was home to 560,000 Palestine refugees. Since the outbreak of the conflict, an estimated 450,000 refugees had remained, some 280,000 of whom were internally displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance. The Special Rapporteur on internally displaced persons made related observations. The Committee on the Rights of the Child strongly urged the State to cease military operations within and outside refugee camps and to provide humanitarian agencies with full access to the refugees. As at April 2016, all 29 UNRWA schools in the Yarmouk refugee camp had been closed. UNRWA encouraged the authorities to investigate attacks on schools.165

O. Internally displaced persons

72. The Special Rapporteur noted that the vast majority of internally displaced persons in the collective centres that he had visited were women, children or elderly people. He recommended that all efforts be undertaken to maintain family unity. He noted that ISIL had waged a campaign of terror in parts under its control, leading to mass displacement, with some civilians displaced multiple times. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women urged that accountability mechanisms be put in place in all displacement settings.

O. Internally displaced persons

74. UNICEF reported that by May 2016, there were 6,000,000 children affected, including 2,536,316 children displaced outside the country and in need of assistance. UNICEF urged taking effective measures to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour.

75. The Special Rapporteur on internally displaced persons emphasized the need for collective displacement facilities to be in safe locations.

P. Right to development

76. The Committee on the Rights of the Child was concerned that corruption remained pervasive.

R. Situation in, or in relation to, specific regions or territories

79. The Committee on the Rights of the Child shared the State’s serious concern about the difficulties in ensuring the rights of Syrian children in the occupied Syrian Golan.

 

Summary of stakeholders' information

C. Implementation of international human rights obligations, taking into account applicable international humanitarian law

Equality and non-discrimination

15. JS14 reported that the Citizenship Law No. 276 (1969) prevented women from granting citizenship to their children. JS10 noted that due to the violent nature of the conflict, tens of thousands of fathers were absent, including those who were deceased, fighting, missing, imprisoned and displaced, making it extremely difficult to establish a child’s   legal   link   to   a   Syrian   father,   heightening   the   risk   of   statelessness. The forced displacement of a huge proportion of the population amplified and transferred across borders the risks of statelessness. JS1 and JS14 recommended that SAR amend the law to ensure women’s  right  to  grant  citizenship  to  their children.

16. JS14 indicated that the Personal Status Law provided that in the absence of the father, guardianship was exercised   by   a   child’s   grandfather   and   uncles, making it impossible for a Syrian woman to obtain travel documents for her children. JS14 recommended that SAR amend the Personal Status Law to allow Syrian women to have guardianship of their children. JS7 recommended the amendment of the provisions in the Personal Status Law that discriminate against women, specifically in the areas of marriage, divorce, inheritance, and marital property.

28. HRW stated that non-state armed groups opposing the government had carried out serious abuses including attacking civilians, using child soldiers, kidnapping, and torture. JS11 indicated that opposition PtC used abduction and arrest policies in areas under their control, either for financial reasons, for prisoner exchanges or to tighten their control and suppress opposition.61

29. JS2 stated that all PtC were implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity, noting that IS in particular was alleged to have committed acts of genocide against the Yazidi community.62 GJC reported that “Daesh” had singled out the Yazidi minority, most notably Yazidi women and children, for especially brutal treatment.63 JC reported that ISIL had repeatedly sexually abused Christian and Yazidi women and girls causing both bodily and mental harm.64 ADF International indicated that as a result of the extermination campaign against Christians and Yazidis, their population had dramatically decreased by way of both forced migration and killings.65

53. JS3 noted that Government forces had used 15 years-old as guards and in surveillance operations and recommended that the Government immediately stop recruiting children in military operations.113 JS12 stated that some opposition PtC recruited male children who were used in dangerous military and criminal operations.

54. GIEACPC hoped that a recommendation would be made that SAR clearly prohibit corporal punishment of children in all settings.

4. Right to privacy, marriage and family life

63. JS7 reported that Syrian law required women to have the permission of their male guardian to marry. Men may marry at 18 but women could marry at 17 and moreover, judges had the discretion to authorise marriage for boys as young as 15 and girls as young as 13.138 JS12 noted that early marriages had increased during the civil war out of fear of widespread sexual assaults and due to economic hardship. JS7 noted that a 2013 study found that women in SAR were increasingly forced into marriage after rape to avoid honour killings.140 JS12 observed that marriages outside the official courts had increased during the civil war, especially in the religious courts of PtC. This had led to many women giving birth at a young age, and the deterioration of their health.

64. JS12 stated that SAR must: define the minimum age of marriage, care for married minors and their children, and guarantee their well-being and health; appropriately penalize marriage outside of specialized courts, and bring to justice those responsible for marrying minors.

9. Right to health

85. JS13 noted reports that the systematic targeting to health facilities and staff in SAR had caused a large number of doctors to flee.173 JS13 indicated that only 45% of the total health staff before the conflict still worked in SAR. Lack of basic services, potable water and basic sanitation had led to an increase in epidemics.174 JS4 made related observations indicating that the Government was responsible for the spread of diseases due to the blockage of vaccines and medicines and the inability of women and children to access basic medical services.175 JS4 also reported that the lack of food and medical care had negatively affected the health of those pregnant and breastfeeding, and led to higher infant mortality rates.176

86. JS7 noted that women and girls had been forced to carry pregnancies resulting from rape to term either because it was too dangerous to travel or because they were denied abortion or contraceptive services.177 GJC reported that SAR had restrictive laws on abortion  and  only  permitted  abortion  to  save  a  woman’s  life.178 As a result of the rampant sexual violence committed by all PtC, there was a need to ensure that non-discriminatory medical care was available to victims, including access to safe abortion and other sexual and reproductive health services.179

10. Right to education

87. JS7 observed that prior to the conflict, primary school enrolment had been nearly universal and literacy rates high. Currently, SAR was estimated to have one of the lowest school enrolments in the world. An estimated half of all Syrian refugee children were receiving no education, and in some neighbouring countries, the figure was worse.180

88. JS3 indicated that nearly two million children inside SAR were deprived of their right to education due to the armed conflict. Thousands of residents stopped sending their children to school since Government forces deliberately targeted schools and educational facilities.181 JS3 recommended that SAR stop targeting schools and educational facilities.

 

Accepted and Rejected recommendations

The recommendations listed below have been examined by the Syrian Arab Republic (responses not available in English): 

The recommendations listed below did not enjoy the support of the Syrian Arab Republic and would thus be noted:

110.22 Immediately free unconditionally all persons arbitrarily detained by the Syrian authorities, as a priority women, children and older persons (France);

110.23 Release the thousands of Syrians unlawfully detained, especially women and children (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);