A/HRC/38/29 23. Mr. Osman called on the international community, including the Security Council, to provide support for justice and accountability initiatives, including for the Commission of Inquiry and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for the Syrian Arab Republic, and urged the initiation of criminal proceedings against those responsible for crimes. 24. Mr. Osman provided suggestions on concrete ways to safeguard child rights. He called for the cessation of attacks against schools and hospitals; the protection of humanitarian workers; the development of rehabilitation programmes for disabled children; and reinforcement of the education system. He also called for engagement with parties to the conflict with a view to obtaining their commitment to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers. 25. Mr. Alkasem described the conditions of detention of children and their treatment by Syrian authorities and armed groups. Arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance had been perpetrated by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic for decades, and had increased in reaction to the 2011 uprising. Children had not been spared from arbitrary arrest and detention and faced torture, inhuman and degrading treatment similar to that endured by adults. Many children died in detention. The fear and trauma experienced by the children and their families were exacerbated by the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators. 26. Mr. Alkasem outlined the conclusions of a report produced by his organization on enforced disappearance and detention of children. Children faced unbearable psychological and physical torture, including sexual violence. They were separated from their parents and detained with adults; used as witnesses against their own parents; forced to make false testimonies; accused of terrorism; and subjected to special courts. Most children in detention were between 13 and 18 years old. The conditions of detention were appalling, particularly in military detention facilities, and children were deprived of basic necessities, including food and access to health care. 27. When detained by armed groups, children would be accused of apostasy and spying on behalf of the Government or foreign intelligence agencies. Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) subjected children to sexual slavery, with girls being forcibly married to ISIL members, while boys were instilled with ISIL ideology and subjected to military training. 28. Fearing social stigmatization or reprisals, children would agree to report on human rights violations and abuses as witnesses, but not as victims, and such cases were consequently not documented. Ensuring accountability for human rights violations was a cornerstone for the rehabilitation of Syrian society. Mr. Alkasem called on the international community to assume its responsibility to ensure the protection of children in the Syrian Arab Republic. He recommended documenting cases of enforced disappearance, identifying burial sites and creating a DNA database for children separated from their families. He urged the Human Rights Council to remain seized of the matter of human rights violations of children in the Syrian Arab Republic. In conclusion, Mr. Alkasem emphasized the urgent need to protect children in order to spare them the terrible fate of those who had died in detention. IV. Summary of the discussion 29. During the interactive phase of the panel discussion, the following delegations, listed in order of intervention, spoke: Iceland (on behalf of the Group of Nordic Countries), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (on behalf of itself and France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States of America), the European Union, Croatia (on behalf of itself, Austria and Slovenia), Ireland, Israel, France, Estonia, Belgium, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Australia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, the United States and Bahrain. 30. The following non-governmental organizations (NGOs) contributed to the discussion: the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches; United Nations Watch; the International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Conseil International pour le soutien à des procès 5