A/HRC/21/50 C. Sexual violence 15. As noted in annex IX, the commission received a report of the gang rape of two young girls, aged 11 and 14 years, by men in military clothes, in Bab Amr in late February/early March. The girls‘ father was forced to watch the rape. His daughters were reportedly then forced to watch the rape of their father. A resident of Karm-el-Zeytoun (Homs) stated she had witnessed soldiers raping a 16-year-old girl during military ground operations in March. A defector stated that he had been present at the sexual assault of a 15 year old girl in Zabadani by soldiers during a house search in February. D. Recruitment and use of children 16. No evidence of Government forces formally conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 18 years has been received. 17. However, the commission documented at least three separate incidents in which Government forces reportedly used children as young as eight as hostages and as human shields. Two interviewees stated that on 21 February in Abdita (Idlib), soldiers forced women and children to walk with them as they moved around the town. When the soldiers withdrew, reportedly three families, including a number of children, were forced to walk alongside a moving tank. The families were released once the soldiers reached the outskirts of the town. Another interviewee stated that, in Taftanaz on 3 April, women and children were reportedly removed from their houses by soldiers and forced to walk in front of a tank as it moved through the town. In Ain Larouz in March, an interviewee stated that several dozen children, boys and girls ranging between the ages of eight and 13 years, were forcibly taken from their homes. These children were then reportedly placed by soldiers and Shabbiha in front of the windows of buses carrying military personnel into the raid on the village. E. Attacks on schools and hospitals 18. Schools in various locations across Syria have been looted, vandalized and burned by Government forces in response to student protests. A teacher from the village of Abdita (Idlib) testified that since January schools have effectively been closed in the entire region due to fears of imminent military attack. Many schools had been the site of protests and were therefore targeted by Government forces. The interviewee described how, in February, in response to anti-Government protests, the military fired at Abdita School, broke into the classrooms, destroyed school materials and placed graffiti slogans on the walls, all variants of the slogan, ―Al Assad or no one else‖. 19. As detailed in section III.I of the report of the commission of inquiry (A/HRC/21/50), multiple accounts were received concerning the use of schools by Government forces (most often the army and intelligence services) and Shabbiha, as military staging grounds, temporary bases and sniper posts. Several interviewees also stated that the intelligence forces and the Shabbiha had installed gun emplacements on the roofs of schools while students were attending classes. The attack on schools has disrupted, and in many cases, curtailed children‘s ability to access education. 20. Aside from the military operations that prevented civilians from accessing hospitals over lengthy periods of time, reports also indicated that injured persons, including children and their families, failed to seek medical treatment out of fear of attack by the Government for suspected association with anti-Government armed groups. Many children who were injured were not able to receive hospital care and were taken to private or ―underground‖ 97