Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
30 second video of Syrian boy dodging sniper bullets and (Original Post) GummyBearz Nov 2014 OP
WTF? Shooting at children! JNelson6563 Nov 2014 #1
It's genocide. NYC_SKP Nov 2014 #2
Syrian Army has a brutal record JonLP24 Nov 2014 #3
disgusting that they shoot at the kids drray23 Nov 2014 #4
Terrifying!!! riderinthestorm Nov 2014 #5
It would appear to be from the Syrian Army JonLP24 Nov 2014 #7
Thanks. I guess I'm just cynical - both sides appear to be monstrous riderinthestorm Nov 2014 #8
ISIS seems to be the only one that recorded their human rights abuses JonLP24 Nov 2014 #9
Well it is disgusting rtracey Nov 2014 #6

JonLP24

(29,322 posts)
3. Syrian Army has a brutal record
Fri Nov 14, 2014, 10:50 AM
Nov 2014

ccording to the UN, Syrian armed and security forces may be responsible for: unlawful killing, including of children (mostly boys), medical personnel and hospital patients ("In some particularly grave instances, entire families were executed in their homes&quot ; torture, including of children (mostly boys, sometimes to death) and hospital patients, and including sexual and psychological torture; arbitrary arrest "on a massive scale"; deployment of tanks and helicopter gunships in densely populated areas; heavy and indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas; collective punishment; enforced disappearances; widescale and systematic destruction and looting of property; the systematic denial, in some areas, of food and water; and the prevention of medical treatment, including to children - in the period since 15 March 2011.[4]:20–4[7]:4–6[8]:2–4[9]:10–20 Amnesty International reported that medical personnel had also been tortured,[10] while the UN said that medical personnel in state hospitals were sometimes complicit in the killing and torture of patients.[9]:11 The execution and torture of children was also documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.[1]:30[11]:31–2[12][13] Most of the serious human rights violations documented by the UN have been committed by the Syrian army and security services as part of military or search operations.[7]:4[8]:1 The pattern of the killing, coupled with interviews with defectors, led the UN to conclude a shoot-to-kill policy was operative.[4]:20[9]:10 The UN mentioned several reports of security forces killing injured victims by putting them into refrigerated cells in hospital morgues.[4]:22

Amnesty International decided to enter the country uninvited in spring 2012 and documented "gross violations of human rights on a massive scale" by the Syrian military and shabiha, "many of which amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes". These were committed against the armed opposition, to punish and intimidate civilian individuals and strongholds perceived to be supporting the opposition, and indiscriminately against individuals who had nothing to do with the opposition. In addition to the crimes listed by the UN above, they noted cases of people being burnt alive; destruction of pharmacies and field hospitals (normal hospitals are out of bounds to those wounded by the military); and that the sometimes lethal torture ("broken bones, missing teeth, deep scars and open wounds from electric shocks, and from severe beatings and lashings with electric cables and other implements&quot was overwhelmingly directed at men and boys.

The UN reported 10,000 persons arbitrarily detained between mid-March and the late June 2011;[7]:5 a year later that number had more than doubled, though the true number of detainees may have been far higher.[1]:11[11]:12 At the notorious Seidnaya jail, north of Damascus, 2,500 military officers and lesser ranks were being held after they disobeyed orders or attempted desertion.[14] Human Rights Watch documented more than 20 different methods of torture used against detainees, including: prolonged and severe beatings, often with objects such as batons and wires; painful stress positions; electrocution; burning with car battery acid; sexual assault; pulling out fingernails; mock execution; and sexual violence.[11]:18–19 Many were held in disgusting and cruelly overcrowded conditions; many who needed medical assistance were denied it, and some consequently died.[11]:14–17

Human Rights Watch accused the government and Shabiha of using civilians as human shields when they advanced on opposition-held areas.[15] A UN report confirmed this, saying soldiers had used children as young as eight, detaining and killing children afterwards. The UN added the Syrian Government as one of the worst offenders on its annual "list of shame".[16]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_violations_during_the_Syrian_Civil_War

drray23

(7,633 posts)
4. disgusting that they shoot at the kids
Fri Nov 14, 2014, 10:51 AM
Nov 2014

On the other hand this young boy has more courage that most people ever will. We give medals to our soldiers for stuff like that.

JonLP24

(29,322 posts)
7. It would appear to be from the Syrian Army
Fri Nov 14, 2014, 11:11 AM
Nov 2014

The Telegraph cannot independently verify the footage but it is thought the incident took place in Yabroud - a town near the Lebanese border which was the last stronghold of the moderate Free Syrian Army. Experts tell the paper they have no reason to doubt its authenticity.

It would not be the first time gunmen had targeted children in the nearly four years of bloody civil war.

More than 11,000 children have died in war-torn Syria since 2011, including hundreds targeted by snipers, a report by the London-based Oxford Research group revealed earlier this month.

The group found that sniper fire killed 389 Syrian children under the age of 17 between March 2011 and August 2013.

The UN has previously accused the Syrian regime of "crimes against humanity" – including the use of snipers against small children.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11222420/Watch-Syrian-hero-boy-appears-to-brave-sniper-fire-to-rescue-terrified-girl-in-dramatic-video.html

 

riderinthestorm

(23,272 posts)
8. Thanks. I guess I'm just cynical - both sides appear to be monstrous
Fri Nov 14, 2014, 11:16 AM
Nov 2014

There's enough terrible stories of ISIS and similar groups killing children that I guess I mistrust anything being reported as fact especially when we don't speak the language or understand the dynamics of any situation there.

There's a lot of propaganda films, including snuff films, from this part of the world trying to persuade "us" (ie those who aren't on the ground there) of their side...

JonLP24

(29,322 posts)
9. ISIS seems to be the only one that recorded their human rights abuses
Fri Nov 14, 2014, 11:22 AM
Nov 2014

There is a leaked video that shows the Syrian Army torturing & murdeing detainees.

You're right. ISIS is performing genocide against the Yazidi, including children. I'm not sure about the Rebels except for Free Syrian Army using child soldiers. There are human rights violations on all sides of this conflict but Assad Regime is far worse.

 

rtracey

(2,062 posts)
6. Well it is disgusting
Fri Nov 14, 2014, 11:01 AM
Nov 2014

But think on the Syrian side for a moment. Their goal is to kill every rebel, and leaving children, just allows them to grow into rebels. It sucks because we as Americans, or i should say most Americans do not ever want war. (some in congress are opposite).

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»30 second video of Syrian...