A/HRC/28/69
while security checks were carried out by the group. While he was not beaten, he heard
other detainees in adjacent rooms being beaten and interrogated about their involvement in
the black market for oil.
166. In August 2014, a man was arrested by ISIS fighters in Bukamel and taken to a
detention facility in the agricultural school. There he was handcuffed behind his back and
suspended by the wrists while being beaten with wooden sticks. He noted that several of
those carrying out the beatings were foreign fighters, among them a Tunisian and a
Moroccan.
167. In late May 2014, ISIS in Minbeij abducted 153 Kurdish schoolchildren, boys aged
13 and 14 years as they travelled from Aleppo to their homes in Ayn al-Arab (Kobane).
Shortly after their abduction, the boys were beaten with hoses. Following a failed prisoner
exchange in mid-July 2014, the group turned its attention to the indoctrination of the
children, teaching them ISIS ideology and having them watch videos of executions. ISIS set
numerous rules including not speaking Kurdish, not being loud, praying at the correct times
and observing Ramadan. When the boys broke these rules they were beaten by the Emir,
the “ideology teacher” or the guards. Reports were received of children being severely
beaten with braided electrical cables, hoses, plastic cables on the soles of their feet, back
and hands. Where schoolboys were caught trying to escape, they were brutally punished,
including by being given electric shocks and by being suspended by the wrists with their
hand tied behind their backs. Both Syrian and foreign fighters committed these acts.
168. In February 2014, approximately 150 Kurdish men were held by ISIS and
transferred to a former Government prison in Tel Abyad briefly and then to a small village
in Ar Raqqah governorate. They were held there until late 2014. They were beaten severely
for being suspected members of the YPG. ISIS also made attempts to indoctrinate the men,
forcing them to watch videos of beheadings and to wear uniforms similar to those worn by
the ISIS fighters.
169. As an organised armed group exercising effective control over territory, ISIS has an
obligation to ensure humane treatment. By regularly using violence to life, torture, cruel
treatment, ISIS is violating binding international humanitarian law.
170. By orchestrating systematic harm against a civilian population, ISIS has
demonstrated its capacity and intent to wilfully apply measures of intimidation and terror,
such as violence to life and inhuman treatment inflicting great suffering and injury to bodily
integrity.
171. ISIS has committed torture as part of an attack on a civilian population in Aleppo,
Ar Raqqah, Dayr az Zawr and Al Hasakah governorates, amounting to war crimes and
crimes against humanity. The direct perpetrators and their commanders can be held
individually responsible for these acts.
F.
Sexual and gender-based violence
1.
Government forces
172. The information collected since July 2014 regarding sexual and gender-based
violence against men and women demonstrates the importance of continued attention to and
documentation of sexual violence in Syria. Many of the accounts collected describe
incidents that occurred prior to 2014. Many victims of sexual and gender-based violence
could speak out only once they had been released from detention, while others took time to
relay their experiences of violations which often occurred in secret or were cloaked in
silence or taboo. Under-reporting and delayed reporting of sexual violence continues to be
endemic. Contemporaneous medical documentation is rare and in custodial contexts,
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