Almost 200 Children Killed in Syria Uprising - UN (NEWS BRIEF)

A man at the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York holding up a t-shirt photo of Syrian President Basah al-Assad. Credit: HUMNEWS(HN, October 8, 2011) - Almost 200 children have been killed in the uprising in Syria and their rights have been seriously abused, according to the respected UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The killings were recorded since Syria launched a brutal crackdown on protesters calling for President Bashar al-Assad's to step down.

The CRC expressed "its deepest concern over credible, corroborated and consistent reports of gross violations of children's rights which are being committed since the start of the uprising in March 2011."

These included "arbitrary arrests and detentions, killings of children during demonstrations, torture and ill treatment."

The CRC is a body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by its State parties. It also monitors implementation of two optional protocols to the Convention, on involvement of children in armed conflict and on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

CRC chief Jean Zermatten says it has seen a list of at least 187 child deaths with statistics provided by UN bodies and non-governmental organisations.

It asked Damascus to take "immediate measures to stop the use of excessive and lethal force against civilians and to prevent further violence against children, including killings and injuring."

In June, UNICEF said it had disturbing evidence suggesting that children in Syria are being tortured or otherwise mistreated by authorities. "We are particularly disturbed by the recent video images of children who were arbitrarily detained and suffered torture or ill-treatment during their detention, leading in some cases to their death," the agency said in a statement.

Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the total number of people killed in the uprising has passed 2,900, “according to the list of individual names we have been compiling.” Previous estimates had placed the toll at about 2,700.

On Tuesday, the Security Council did not adopt a draft resolution that strongly condemned Syrian authorities for their crackdown after Russia and China exercised their vetoes.

Last month in New York, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said "crimes against humanity" were being committed in Syria.

- HUMNEWS staff, agencies