A/HRC/27/60 114. The whereabouts of the Syriac Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Archbishops of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, abducted in Aleppo in April 2013, and of Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, abducted in Ar Raqqah city in January, remain unknown. Journalists continue to be systematically targeted by ISIS. Some have been executed. Dozens, both foreign and Syrian, remain in captivity, detained and ill-treated because of their professional activities. Religious personnel and civilian journalists enjoy specific protection under international humanitarian law and must be respected and protected by all parties. C. Use of illegal weapons Government forces 115. Government forces attacked civilian-inhabited areas in Idlib and Hama governorates: Kafr Zeita on 11, 12, 16 and 18 April, Al-Tamana’a on 12, 18 and 29 April and Tal Minnis on 21 April 2014. 116. Witnesses saw helicopters drop barrel bombs and smelled a scent akin to domestic chlorine immediately following impact. Accounts of victims, and of medical personnel involved in administering treatment, provide descriptions of symptoms compatible with exposure to chemical agents, namely vomiting, eye and skin irritation, choking and other respiratory problems. 117. Chlorine gas is a chemical weapon as defined in the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, of 1992. The use of chemical weapons is prohibited in all circumstances under customary international humanitarian law and is a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 118. Reasonable grounds exist to believe that chemical agents, likely chlorine, were used on Kafr Zeita, Al-Tamana’a and Tal Minnis in eight incidents within a 10-day period in April. There are also reasonable grounds to believe that those agents were dropped in barrel bombs from government helicopters flying overhead. D. 1. Denial of economic, social and cultural rights and basic freedoms Government forces 119. Compounded by rising levels of poverty and desperation, the conflict has led to a partition of areas under Government and non-State armed group control. This has had significant consequences for civilians’ ability to access basic services, including food, water, shelter, education and health care. Approximately 20 persons wounded in barrel bomb attacks in Dael (Dara’a) in mid-June were prevented by Government forces from accessing the nearest hospital in Dara’a city. During the government operation on Qatana (Rif Damascus) in February and March, Beit Saber was surrounded by roadblocks, electricity was cut off and shelling intensified. As the siege tightened, Government forces blocked the supply of food and gas. 120. Owing to ongoing violence and the deliberate obstruction of communication and transport routes, the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to displaced persons and civilian residents in areas affected by conflict has been inadequate, particularly in Nawa, Inkhil and Jasem (Dara’a). In Nawa, the flow of food and medicine is impeded by the 61st Brigade. 121. Areas in Qalamoun (Rif Damascus), such as Yabroud and Rankus, were besieged prior to the government assault in March. Indiscriminate shelling and bombardment 19