File image.
Following the fall of the regime of former president Bashar al-Assad, reports of violations against children in Syria appear to have increased significantly.
Children were greatly affected by the war all over the country. And while there are no solid data on the situation before the fall of the regime, the security situation in areas controlled by Islamists rebels, which lacked any real sense of law and order, was undoubtedly worse. Children there were way more vulnerable to all sorts of crimes.
When the rebels took over the country following a lighting offensive led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, last December, instead of adapting the policing system that was in place before, which was not perfect but functioning, they began an attempt to establish their own system based on their not very successful experience.
Now, the level of security in all the areas controlled by the new Islamist-led interim government has declined to the level that was present in rebel-held areas a year ago.
Just between August 8 and 9, four girls under the age of 10 fell victims for gruesome crimes. Not only no one was held accountable, but security forces were accused of covering up or even taking part in some of these crimes.
A girl in the town of Haranabush in the northern Idlib countryside was severely wounded by a stray bullet, apparently fired by some gunman who was celebrating.
Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
Another girl, Israa Atallah al-Awad al-Karta, faced an even sadder fate in the town of Mahkan in the southern Deir Ezzor countryside.
The girl was reportedly abducted, tortured to the point where she lost both of her eyes, then burned to death. The girl’s disfigured body was recovered from a sewage hole. Some of the locals speculated that the criminal was a sadistic psychopath, while others speculated that he was likely a religious fanatic practicing some sort of blood magic.
Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
A third girl, only eight-years-old, was found dead in the al-Kwsa refugee camp near the town of Jarablus in the northern Aleppo countryside.
Locals who saw the body said that the girl was clearly sexually assaulted then strangled to death. Still, a police officer, in cooperation with a local doctor, contributed her death to a snake bite.
Also in the northern Aleppo countryside, another girl was shot dead close to the Syrian side of the Bab al-Salama border crossing with Turkey. The circumstances of her death suggest that she was likely shot by Syrian border guards, as they are the only ones with weapons there.
Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
In addition to these crimes, the abduction of two girls, one 17 and another 19 years-old, was reported close to the city of al-Bab in the eastern Aleppo countryside on August 9.
On August 10, the dead body of a boy, reportedly in his early teenage years, was found in a ballistic bag dubbed on the side of the road near the town of Demsarkho, right to the north of the coastal city of Latakia.
These cases are just an example of the current security situation in Syria. In none of these cases, political or sectarian motives played a role. These crimes appear to be simply the work of psychopaths who are taking advantage of the accountability-free situation created by the government.
For the last seven months or so, the government has been promising to reform its security forces and legal system. However, things appear to be only getting worse. With the complete refusal to reinstall former security personnel, who clearly were more effective when it comes to fighting crimes, the situation is not likely to get any better.
Taking into account sectarian killings and ethnic tensions, it can be said that today Syria is the world’s largest haven for radicals and criminals. What is being reported, especially when it comes to violations against children, is likely just a fraction of the dimmer reality.
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