UN: Kids killed, sexually tortured in Syria

A demonstration by supporters of Syrian President Assad against the Arab League, in Damascus, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. / AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman

GENEVA - A U.N. probe has found that Syrian troops killed hundreds of children and committed other "crimes against humanity" since the government crackdown began in March.

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 2-year-old girl shot to death just to prevent her from growing up to be a demonstrator.

The panel's report to the U.N. Human Rights Council says government forces have used excessive force to "shot indiscriminately at unarmed protesters" while snipers targeted others in the upper body and head.

Their report, released Monday, said Syrian security forces along with militias were given "shoot to kill" orders to crush demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the Arab League's newly approved sanctions against Damascus amount to "a declaration of economic war," Syria's foreign minister said, betraying deep concern about the effects of the measures on the embattled regime.

Arab League approves Syria sanctions
Assad: I will not stop fight against "terrorists"

But in a clear sign of defiance, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem insisted that the Syrian people will be the ones to suffer — and the regime will survive.

"Let them study the history of Syria very well," al-Moallem told reporters at a televised news conference. "Neither warnings nor sanctions will work with us."

In an unprecedented move against a fellow Arab state, the 22-member Arab League approved sanctions Sunday to pressure the regime to end its suppression of an 8-month-old revolt. The crackdown has killed more than 3,500 people and deepened Syria's international isolation.

CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk referred to the sanctions imposed by the pan-Arab organization - a group that Syria helped create - as "crippling."

The sanctions by Syria's Arab neighbors include cutting off transactions with the Syria's central bank, and are expected to squeeze an ailing economy that already is under sanction by the U.S. and the European Union.

Damascus' response is that Syria is the victim of a foreign-supported insurgency by armed gangs. In an attempt to bolster that contention, al-Moallem showed reporters videos of charred and bloodied corpses.

"I'm sorry for these gruesome pictures, but they are a gift to the members of the Arab League who still deny the presence of these armed gangs," he said.

The European Union and the United States already have imposed sanctions, the League has suspended Syria's membership, and world leaders increasingly are calling on President Bashar Assad to go.

But as the crisis drags on, the violence appears to be spiraling out of control as attacks by army defectors increase and some protesters take up arms to protect themselves.

The sanctions are among the clearest signs yet of Syria's growing international isolation. Damascus has long boasted of being a powerhouse of Arab nationalism, but Assad has been abandoned by some of his closest allies and now his Arab neighbors.

Still tens of thousands of government supporters flocked to main squares on Monday in almost all cities, including the capital Damascus, to denounce the Arab League decision. State TV quoted demonstrators as saying that the sanctions target all segments of the population.

Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said the bloc will reconsider the sanctions if Syria carries out an Arab-brokered plan that calls for pulling tanks from the streets and ending violence against civilians. The regime, however, has shown no signs of easing its crackdown, and activist groups said more than 30 people were killed on Sunday alone.

The death tolls are impossible to confirm independently because Syria has banned most foreign journalists.

At a news conference in Cairo on Sunday, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said 19 of the League's 22 member nations had approved the sanctions. In addition to the ban on dealings with the Syrian central bank, they include a halt to Arab government funding for projects in Syria and the freezing of Syrian government assets. The sanctions take effect immediately.

The vote came after Damascus missed an Arab League deadline to agree to allow hundreds of observers into the country as part of a peace deal Syria agreed to early this month to end the crisis.

[AMVG]

It is too bad there aren't laws against what some of you have written about this story... Any country that supports Syria needs to be boycotted....
Prayers go out to all of those families that have lost their children to this slaughter by the Syrian government...

[fjinnw2]

How's about American soldiers sexually tortured prisoners.

[tdentino]

Who Cares !!

[Lerianis4]

Who the hell would kill and sexually torture a kid? I can understand someone having sex with a child but sexually torturing them?

They need to find the people who are doing these things, arrest them, and put them in prison if they can prove what they were doing.

[enlightenu]

The only supporters are the ones doing well under the regime, ie., the wealthy. They want nothing to change. Political warfare is class warfare. Always.

[netjunkie1]

The government of Syria knows what they are doing is murder.
They kicked out the foreign journalists claiming its for their protection, when in fact its' to cover up their crimes.
They sent in military tanks and aircraft to kill all opposition, even if its' peaceful protestors, men, women, and children.

Now we know they have sexually tortured children....some so young not old enough to know politics.

[hamiltongrad]

History of WWII shows a strong connection between NAZIs and many Arab groups, who supported the wholesale death of innocents. Syria's regime and others should have been "put down" at the end of the war, but we dropped the ball, resulting in the stale mate in Israel, death of thousands of innocent people, including Egypt's Coptic Christians, and an overall NIGHTMARE for the world. Knowing history, is important.
We who know such things hope, finally, that this terrible NAZI backed group , along with Hezbollah and HAMAS- finally will be overthrown, some 60 years too late.

[Lerianis4]

Hey, the Nazi's were the 'big guys on the block' back then, and the fact is that the United States before Pearl Harbor were negotiating to be 'buddy-buddy' with Germany.

[samXXkiley]

coucou,
***But in a clear sign of defiance, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem insisted that the Syrian people will be the ones to suffer — and the regime will survive.***

=====================
time will tell
Waleed Al mualleem you really believe, that Bashar can redirect Syria again after massacres he has perpetrated, you're sick and
unconscious
Syrian people, will have the last word
"au revoir"

[karek40]

Dictators come to power via force, they remain in power via force. They may depose this regime but there will be a heavy cost in lives.

[nfission]

Brutal, so difficult to read this stuff, how does anyone hurt a child? Sexual torture? The words even hurt, cannot imagine what these kids went through.

[karek40]

If you are controlling the population through fear, what better way than to show those rebelling that you are willing to kill not only them but their families (including children). Note this is not an endorcement of the practice, just a recognition of its existence.