INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Islamic State jihadists raped girls as young as nine and forced them into sexual slavery, according to a new UN-backed report into Syria's
Investigators say the report is the first of its kind to focus solely on the plight of children entangled in the bloody conflict.The
Commission of Inquiry for Syria compiled more than 5,000 interviews over eight years with Syrian kids who had been robbed of their
childhood, as well as with witnesses, survivors, relatives, medical professionals, defectors and fighters.One six-year-old boy imitated the
hanging of a toddler after watching a public execution, while a ten-year-old girl told her mother she would die of hunger.Russia says this
Syrian bombing didn't happenThe report detailed how young children had been targeted by sniper fire and used as bargaining chips to extract
ransoms, how Islamic State jihadists had raped girls as young as nine and forced them into sexual slavery, and how al-Qaida-linked fighters
had tortured boys, forced them into military training and ordered them to carry out public killings."After eight years of conflict, children
in Syria have experienced unabated violations of their rights: they continue to be killed, maimed, injured and orphaned, bearing the brunt
of violence perpetrated by warring parties," the report said.Will Putin's tactics be his downfall?It described the bombing of hospitals and
schools, leaving 2.1 million children unable to regularly attend class.It also covered the serious and long-term physical and mental impact
of boys and girls.The report did not include child casualties, citing difficulty in checking facts in a country where the investigators are
barred from visiting.However, it did say that five million children had been "robbed of their childhood" by being forcibly displaced in and
outside of Syria by all sides of the conflict.It noted pro-government fighters as "regularly targeting children using sniper fire" and
deploying cluster munitions, thermobaric bombs and chemical weapons "often against civilian objects such as schools and
hospitals."Commission of Inquiry chair Paulo Pinheiro said he was appalled at the "flagrant disregard" for human rights laws by "all parties
involved in the conflict".He was particularly concerned that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government continued to ignore its
responsibility under international law to respect human rights on its territory."While the government of the Syrian Arab Republic has the
primary responsibility for the protection of boys and girls in the country, all of the actors in this conflict must do more to protect
children and preserve the country's future generation," he said.The inquiry listed recommendations for the warring sides, Syria's government
and the international community.But it suspected many of its calls would go unanswered.
