CAIRO: A United Nations report on human rights violations in Syria has shed light on the extent to which the Syria regime has used deadly force, torture and intimidation on its people, behind the curtain of an independent media black out. With official estimates setting the death toll at 3,500 in Syria since anti-government uprisings began in March of 2010, the international community has had some idea of the nightmare scenario playing out in the nation. However, the new report unveils the treacherous efforts to which President Bashar al-Assad and his regime have resorted, trying to repress the Syrian people's call for democratic freedoms and the overthrow of their government. Reported abuses include the use of excessive force, sexual violence, violence against children, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, and torture. Defectors from the Syrian regime aided the UN fact-finding commission, coming forward with disturbing anecdotes regarding the past 8 months of violence. One defector recounted a battle on a day last May, in which Syrian forces were told to indiscriminately shoot at the anti-government protesters. “We did not see any armed group. The protestors called for freedom. They carried olive branches and marched with their children. We were ordered to either disperse the crowd or eliminate everybody, including children,” he explained. Reports of torture were “numerous” according to the report. “Many were subjected to severe beatings with batons and cables. They also endured prolonged stress position for hours or even days in a row, electroshocks and deprivation of food, water and sleep. Detainees were often put in overcrowded cells and forced to take turns to sleep. Many were blindfolded and sometimes handcuffed, then forced to thumbsign written confessions of crimes that, at best, were read to them by an officer,” reads the report. The use of sexual violence against Syrians, particularly male prison detainees, has also come forward in the report. According to the results of the UN fact-finding mission, “Several former detainees testified reported beatings of genitals, forced oral sex, electroshocks and cigarette burns to the anus.” “The detainees were repeatedly threatened that they would be raped in front of their family and that their wives and daughters would also be raped.” There were also reports that young boys were subjected to sexual torture in the presence of adult men. The report, which is sure to send waves through the international community, comes out just as members of the Arab League have decided to heighten sanctions on Syria. The sanctions, which are the strongest ever handed down by the league toward a member state, include a travel ban for senior Syrian officials to Arab League nations and a freeze on government assets. Specifically, the sanctions seek to halt commerce with the Central Bank of Syria and limit investment in the beleaguered nation. Some observers have expressed hope that a stronger UN Security Council resolution will come forward to further pressure the regime. BM
