A/HRC/43/CRP.6 13 January 2020 English only Human Rights Council Forty-third session 24 February–20 March 2020 Agenda item 4 Human Rights situations that require the Council’s attention “They have erased the dreams of my children”: children’s rights in the Syrian Arab Republic* Conference Room Paper of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic Summary Children’s lives have been scarred by the brutality of the war in the Syrian Arab Republic. Since the start of hostilities, children in the country have been victimized in numerous ways, and left to endure multiple violations of their rights by all parties of the conflict. Robbed of their childhood and forced to participate in a brutal war, children have been killed and maimed in vast numbers. In addition to regularly targeting children using sniper fire, pro-Government forces have also deployed cluster munitions, thermobaric bombs and chemical weapons, often against civilian objects such as schools and hospitals. Government forces have also detained boys as young as 12, subjecting them to severe beatings and torture, and denying them access to food, water, sanitation and medical care. In detention centres, but also much more broadly, rape and sexual violence have been used against men, women, boys and girls as a tool to punish, humiliate and instil fear among affected communities. Such acts resulted in movement restrictions on girls, with many being removed from school, and compelled families to relocate. Armed groups targeted schools and carried out attacks on areas under the control of the Government, causing scores of child casualties. Children were also detained and used to extract ransom, or as bargaining chips to initiate prisoner swaps with Government forces and affiliated militias. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group subjected girls as young as nine to sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence and systematically recruited and used children for direct participation in hostilities. The group also launched indiscriminate attacks on towns and villages that killed and injured scores of children. Most emblematically, children were both victims of public executions and forced into the role of executor by the group. In areas under the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorists, boys were also recruited for combat roles and large numbers of girls were prevented from attending school. * Reproduced as received, in the language of submission only. GE.20-00227(E) 