A/HRC/21/50 field clinics that could treat only the most rudimentary injuries. A nurse from Idlib stated she had treated dozens of women and children in her home during attacks in early March, and that two children died because there was no appropriate equipment and because she was not skilled enough to stop the bleeding of severe wounds. 21. The fear of arrest and torture by Government agents in hospitals denied basic healthcare to both children and women. With a few exceptions, field clinics could do more than stabilize those in frontline communities who were severely wounded. These patients then had to endure days of hardship under precarious circumstances en route to seeking health care in neighbouring countries. Testimonies point to the fact that many children could not tolerate the stress of these transfers and died either before they could be transferred or on the road to the border. F. Legal conclusions 22. Evidence gathered clearly indicates that violations of children‘s rights by Government forces and Shabbiha have continued during this reporting period. 23. The legal conclusions of annexes IV (special inquiry into Al-Houla), V (unlawful killing), VII (arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances), VIII (torture), IX (sexual violence) apply, in respect of the treatment of children by Government forces and Shabbiha. 24. There are multiple reports of minors being held in the same cells as adults, in breach of the Government‘s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. II. Anti-Government armed groups 25. Eleven interviewees, including four minors, spoke about the use of children by antiGovernment armed groups. All stated that anti-Government armed groups, including the FSA, used children to work in support roles such as assisting in medical evacuations or as messengers or porters. Five of those interviewed said the anti-Government armed groups used children under the age of 18 — and in one account, below the age of 15 — as fighters. 26. A 17-year-old interviewee stated that he worked in a FSA medical evacuation team in Hama governorate. He said it was FSA policy that ―only at 17 could a gun be used, mostly for guard duty and no active fighting‖. Three other interviewees, including two minors, stated that they had seen or were aware of 17 year olds actively fighting for the anti-Government armed groups. One said that his 17 year old brother was ―a member of the FSA Al Khatib battalion [and] went to the second floor of a house [in Taftanaz, Idlib governorate, in April] with a Kalashnikov and shot four soldiers‖. Another interviewee stated he saw two fighters, approximately 15 years old, fighting with the FSA-affiliated Al Farouk or Bab Amr battalions in Homs city in June. 27. Another interviewee spoke about the killing of a 17 year old boy — who was reportedly fighting with the FSA — during armed clashes with Government forces in March in Idlib governorate. 28. A 14 year old boy stated that he was given and used a weapon while fighting with the FSA for two days in Idlib in March. 29. There is significant evidence of anti-Government armed groups‘ use of children in auxiliary roles. One 17 year old interviewee worked as part of a FSA medical evacuation team, taking injured persons mainly from the Hama governorate into Turkey. He stated that in his team there were ―about 15 boys under the age of 15 years‖, and that the youngest in 98