UNOG-NEWS COI report on Children in Syria 16JAN2020
/
2:26
/
MP4
/
181.2 MB

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

Human Rights Council Press conference: Commission of Inquiry launches report on children in Syria

Children in Syria have been “robbed of their childhood” and forced to “endure numerous violations” in more than eights years of conflict, according to the latest report by the independent body set up by the UN’s Human Rights Council to investigate violations during the civil war in Syria.

“Children have been denied the protection they are entitled to under international law, and victimized on multiple levels” said Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, on behalf of the three-member group. “Countless girls and boys have been killed and maimed in attacks carried out by all parties to the conflict,” he added.

The 25-page report, released today in Geneva, is entitled “They have erased the dreams of my children: children's rights in the Syrian Arab Republic”, and notes that attacks on civilian infrastructure have had an acute impact on physical health, in particular for those children who suffer from disabilities because of the war.

“Boys as young as six have been recruited to participate in hostilities by warring parties,” Mr. Pinheiro noted as he read one shocking part of the report, “while rape and sexual violence have been used against girls to punish, humiliate and instill fear. In detention, children have been used to extract confession from their parents, subjected to torture and ill-treatment, while consistently denied from accessing food, water and medical care.”

The report says that children’s right to education in Syria has been denied by all parties to the conflict as warring parties have looted and vandalized educational establishments and used schools for military purposes.

The conflict has left an enormous trauma on the physical and mental well-being of an entire generation of Syrian girls and boys but also destroyed the social, economic and cultural fabric required for Syrian communities to start healing, the report states. “Children are dying - many lack civil documentation and in the case of other camps for displaced civilians, are effectively stateless, with the majority of them having missed school for a number of years,” Pinheiro noted.

Young children being made to hang other young children, to execute them in that way” said Karen Abuzayd, a member of the Commission, while calling attention to the difficulty of pursuing such crimes or tackling the issue of impunity. “Are the children responsible for war crimes? How are we going to handle this?”, she asked.

More than five million children have been displaced by the conflict in Syria, and have become increasingly vulnerable to violations as a result. These children are living in situations of protracted displacement, often with severed family ties, and are worryingly “being displaced again as the fighting has escalated,” according to Hanny Megally, also a member of the Commission.

The number of displaced children “has gone up to about 700,000 over the last ten days or so, which shows the level of escalation in the violence and there is a real concern that preventable deaths are going to be continuing to happen,” Megally said.

Among the recommendations to the Government of Syria and other key actors, the Commission urges respect for the special protection children are entitled to under international humanitarian and human rights law, and to ensure accountability for violations that have occurred. The Commission also makes a series of recommendations aimed at increasing the support for children who have suffered abuses.

  1. Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
  2. Medium shot: podium
  3. Wide shot, press briefing room
  4. SOUNDBITE (EN) Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson, Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: “The report covers multiple violations in the period from September 2011 to October 2019. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, children have been denied the protection they are entitled to under international law, and victimized on multiple levels. Countless girls and boys have been killed and maimed in attacks carried out by all parties to the conflict.”
  5. Medium shot: podium
  6. Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson, Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: “Boys as young as six have been recruited to participate in hostilities by warring parties, while rape and sexual violence have been used against girls to punish, humiliate and instil fear. In detention, children have been used to extract confession from their parents, subjected to torture and ill-treatment, while consistently denied from accessing food, water and medical care.”
  7. Wide shot, press briefing room, journalists
  8. SOUNDBITE (EN) Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson, Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: “Children are dying- many lack civil documentation and in the case of other camps for displaced civilians, are effectively stateless, with the majority of them having missed school for a number of years.”
  9. Close-up: journalist
  10. SOUNDBITE (EN) Karen Abuzayd, Member of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: “Sometimes there are reports even of young children being made to hang other young children to execute them in that way. So again are the children responsible for war crimes? How are we going to handle this?”
  11. Close-up: camera
  12. SOUNDBITE (EN) Hanny Megally, Member of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: “Children have been displaced as have their families several times to get to Idlib and now they are being displaced again as the fighting has escalated. I think the number overall has gone up to about 700,000 over the last ten days or so which shows the level of escalation in the violence and there is a real concern that preventable deaths are going to be continuing to happen.”
  13. Wide shot: press room
  14. Medium shot: podium
  15. Medium shot: journalists, cameras

Similar Stories

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on attacks around aid sites in Gaza

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on attacks around aid sites in Gaza ENG FRA

“Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable. For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This morning, we have received information that dozens more people were killed and injured,” Jeremy Laurence UN Human Rights spokesperson said at the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.

Gaza aid update - OCHA 30 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA

Gaza aid update - OCHA 30 May 2025 ENG FRA

Gaza ‘hungriest place on earth’ with aid stymied – UN humanitarians

Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.

Gaza humanitarian update - OCHA, UNRWA

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , UNRWA

Gaza humanitarian update - OCHA, UNRWA ENG FRA

As a controversial United States and Israel-backed aid distribution plan gets underway in Gaza, the UN called on Tuesday for an “immediate surge” of its own pre-positioned supplies to help prevent starvation.

Uganda UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani  urges president to reject bill allowing trials of civilians in military courts

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

Uganda UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani urges president to reject bill allowing trials of civilians in military courts ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani today urged Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject a bill that was recently endorsed by parliament allowing trials of civilians in military courts. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces Amendment Bill 2025, which was passed on 20 May and now awaits presidential signature to become law, among others broadens the jurisdiction of military courts, authorising them to try a wide range of offences against civilians.

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango: South Sudan: UN human rights chief decries escalating hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango: South Sudan: UN human rights chief decries escalating hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan at the bi-weekly briefing in Geneva.

Syria humanitarian update OCHA - WHO 23 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , WHO

Syria humanitarian update OCHA - WHO 23 May 2025 ENG FRA

Syria: ‘Staggering’ needs amid insecurity, health care crisis  - UN humanitarians

Millions of people in Syria continue to face mortal danger from unexploded munitions, disease and malnutrition and urgent support is required, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

Gaza health update - UNRWA - OCHA - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | UNRWA , OCHA , WHO

Gaza health update - UNRWA - OCHA - WHO ENG FRA

UN life-saving aid allowed to trickle into Gaza as civilian needs mount

Amid calls for more humanitarian trucks to enter the food and medicine-deprived Palestinian enclave of Gaza, UN humanitarians have received permission from Israel for “around 100” more aid trucks to cross into the Strip after only five were let in yesterday,  But the scale of relief efforts allowed remains entirely insufficient to meet the urgent needs of people there, humanitarian workers say.

Press vests becoming a target - war reporter Christina Assi

1

1

1

Edited News

Press vests becoming a target - war reporter Christina Assi ENG FRA

A war reporter from Lebanon who lost a limb in the line of duty is calling for an end to impunity for attacks against journalists.

ITU 160th Anniversary - 17 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | ITU

ITU 160th Anniversary - 17 May 2025 ENG FRA

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) commemorated 160 years dedicated to connecting the world on Saturday, 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland, during the annual World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO , OCHA

Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025 ENG FRA

Gazans ‘in terror’ after another night of deadly strikes and siege

Amid reports that Israeli strikes across Gaza into Friday killed at least 64 people, aid teams once again pushed back strongly at allegations that aid is being diverted to Hamas and pleaded for the blockade to end.

UN Human Rights raises human rights concerns about deportations from the United States of America

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights raises human rights concerns about deportations from the United States of America ENG FRA

Deportations over recent months of large numbers of non-nationals from the United States of America, especially to countries other than those of their origin, raise a number of human rights concerns, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned on Tuesday.   

Gaza health update - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Gaza health update - WHO ENG FRA

Gaza: Over 50 child malnutrition deaths amid aid blockade; entire generation will be ‘permanently affected’ - WHO

In the aid desert of Gaza, malnourished children are dying while survivors can expect a lifetime of dire health problems, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.