The Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented the toll on children killed in Syria since the outbreak of the conflict, saying that about 29,017 children have been killed.
The Network said in a report on Wednesday, that “all parties to the conflict in Syria have violated the rights of children, but the largest portion of victims of violence in Syria have been at the hands of the Syrian regime.”
The report documented the killing of about 22,753 children at the hands of Syrian regime forces, including 186 children who were killed by chemical gas, and 404 children who were killed by cluster munitions, and 305 who were killed by a lack of food and medicine in areas subjected to sieges.
The report said that 3,618 children are still under arrest in Syrian regime detention centers, since March 2011.
The report also said that 214 children had been killed by the Syrian Democratic Forces since 2014 and that 722 children were still detained by them.
The report also said that about 956 children had been killed by the Islamic State since 2013, in addition to 326 children who are still detained.
Indiscriminate bombardment by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham has also killed about 64 children, and 29 children are still being detained by the group.
International Coalition strikes have killed at least 984 children while other entities have killed 1,194 children since March 2011.
The Network’s report coincides with the celebration of the UN Children’s Day, which is on Nov. 20.
The Syrian government ratified the 1990 Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the related protocols.
However, a large number of children have been victims of the Syrian war, including those killed directly by snipers and bombardment or killed under torture.
Hamza al-Khatib
Hamza Ali al-Khatib, born in the town of al-Jiza in Daraa province in 1997, was arrested by Military Security on Apr. 29, 2011 at the Saida checkpoint after leaving a protest calling for an end to the siege of Daraa city.
However regime forces handed Hamza’s body over to his family less than a month after his arrest, with signs of torture and bullet wounds on his body.
The Syrian regime president, Bashar al-Assad, denied that his regime is responsible for the incident in an interview with Russia Today in which he said: “No, no. He was killed, and there was an allegation that he was tortured. He wasn’t tortured, he was killed, and he was taken to the hospital, and I met his parents. They know the real story.”
Hajer al-Khatib
A month after the news of the death of Hamza al-Khatib, Hajer al-Khatib and her brothers and relatives were killed.
A survivor of the incident said that he had left at 7 a.m. with 12 students riding a bus to school, passing through a number of checkpoints, but that three cars blocked their path, and that a regime tank began to bombard them, killing three people including Hajer al-Khatib.
Omran Daqneesh
Omran Daqneesh, born 2001 in Aleppo, was silenced after the regime struck his district with barrel bombs on Aug. 17, 2016, shocking the world.
An image of Omran bloody in an ambulance was on the cover of European and American newspapers, describing him as an icon of the Syrian war, while the regime president said that it was staged.
The child and his family appeared in an interview with loyalist media, Kanana Alloush, months after the incident, and loyalist pages said that the child “was in the care of the Syrian state, its army, commander and people.”
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
