The Syrian government has lost all sense of what is right and is committing serious outrages regularly in an attempt to bolster its authority over its terrified population. This disgusting behaviour cannot be accepted by anyone and must force the Syrian government’s few remaining allies to rethink their position. After last month’s massacre of more than 100 people by government troops in Al Houla, it was almost unimaginable that things could get any worse, but instead the shocking violence has increased.
The United Nations has just reported that Syrian troops have tortured children in detention and used them as human shields strapped to tanks to stop attacks by opposition forces. Many children were slaughtered in massacres by armed forces. Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, said she had never seen a similar situation where children were targeted in an armed conflict.
This week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s annual report on children and armed conflict included the Syrian government forces and their allied Shabiha militias for the first time on a list of 52 governments and armed groups that recruit, kill or sexually attack children in armed conflicts.
And if this was not enough, there are fears of more terrible killings. The US said the Syrian government “may be organising another massacre” in the town of Haffa in the Latakia province, where the Syrian government has denied access to UN military observers. Despite this obstruction, the UN secretary-general is right in continuously seeking access for UN observers. It is indeed a dangerous sign that the Syrian government is refusing to cooperate with the UN.
The challenge now is how to move ahead. The proposals from the UN and Kofi Annan’s plan require the good faith of the government and Bashar Al Assad’s willingness to find a peaceful solution, though that is unlikely to happen.
While it is important to document the horrors being committed in Syria, the solution has to come from more determined action.
