Children being ‘detained, tortured and raped’ in Syria

Syrian forces have detained and tortured children as young as 13 as president Bashar al-Assad’s regime tries to crush a nearly 11-month-old uprising, Human Rights Watch said, as fresh clashes erupted between regime troops and rebels in the country’s south.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had documented at least 12 cases of children detained under “inhumane” conditions and tortured, as well as children shot in their homes or on the street.

“Children have not been spared the horror of Syria’s crackdown,” said Lois Whitman, children’s rights director at the New York-based group.