UN inquiry: Syrian forces murdered 256 children

THE UN has accused Syria of a series of crimes against humanity in its crackdown on anti-government protests.

An inquiry said that among other atrocities Syrian troops killed hundreds of children.

A panel of independent experts says at least 256 children were killed by government forces as of early November, with some boys sexually tortured and a two-year-old girl shot dead just to prevent her from growing up to be a demonstrator.

The panel’s report to the UN Human Rights Council said government forces have used excessive force to “shoot indiscriminately at unarmed protesters” while snipers targeted others in the upper body and head.

The report said Syrian security forces along with militias were given “shoot to kill” orders to crush demonstrations.

The panel’s chairman, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, a Brazilian professor, said: “These crimes include murder, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence. We have a very solid body of evidence.”

The panel’s members and staff were not allowed into Syria. But the commission said that it had interviewed 223 victims and witnesses including defectors from Syria’s military and security forces since September

The UN Human Rights Council named Mr Pinheiro, Turkish women’s rights expert Yakin Erturk and Karen Abu Zayd, a US citizen and former head of UNRWA, the UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees to lead an international investigation of allegations of human rights abuses in Syria.

The commission was asked to follow up on a report from the UN human rights office that crimes against humanity may have occurred during Syria’s crackdown since March against anti-government protesters, and to find those responsible.

The report found arbitrary arrests and unlawful detentions were widespread. Most of those arrested were blindfolded and handcuffed and denied food or medical help. Thousands more may have been abducted and disappeared.

Meanwhile Syria has attacked the Arab League’s newly approved sanctions against it as “economic war.”

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem’s remarks came one day after the league approved sweeping sanctions targeting Syria for its crackdown.

Mr Al-Moallem said the league and others refused to believe that there was a foreign conspiracy against Syria.

The sanctions by Syria’s Arab neighbours are expected to squeeze an ailing economy that already is under sanction by the US and the European Union.

Syria’s foreign minister showed gruesome videos of bloodied and charred corpses during a news conference yesterday aimed at bolstering the regime’s contention that armed gangs are behind the country’s violence.