UN: Children used as human shields in Syria

Shaam News Network / AFP - Getty Images

Residents of Houla ride in the back of a pick-up truck on June 5, according to Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network. In May, a massacre in Houla claimed 108 lives including those of 49 children, according to UN figures.

By F. Brinley Bruton, msnbc.com

Children were slaughtered, tortured, sexually attacked and used as human shields by pro-government Syrian forces, according to a damning United Nations report released late on Monday. 

"Children were victims of killing and maiming, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, by the Syrian Armed Forces, the intelligence forces, and the Shabbiha militia,"the U.N.'s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy said in a release issued along with the report.

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The shabiha are a pro-government militia that recruits largely from the Alawite community- the same Muslim sect as President Bashar Assad. Sunnis, who make up the majority of the rebels, are an estimated 74 percent of the population.

NYT: Assad's response to Syria unrest leaves his own sect divided

In an interview with the BBC, Coomaraswamy said she had learned of "horrific" reports reports in Syria.

"We are really quite shocked. Killing and maiming of children in cross-fire is something we come across in many conflicts but this torture of children in detention, children as young as 10, is something quite extraordinary, which we don't really see in other places."

....

"We also had testimonies and saw children who had been tortured, and who carried the torture marks with them. We also heard of children being used -- this was recounted to us by some children -- of being put on tanks and being used as human shields so that the tanks would not be fired upon."

Coomaraswamy also criticized the rebellion's main armed group for its treatment of children.

'Battle is in Damascus' as Syrian tanks fire in 12-hour exchange

A civil war is breaking out in Syria between the Sunnis and Shiites with militia groups fighting along sectarian lines. Sources report regular gun battles close to the presidential palace where the Syrian regime is experiencing problems controlling its own armed forces. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

"For the first time we heard of children being recruited by the Free Syrian Army mainly in medical and service orientated jobs but still on the front line," she told the BBC.

The U.N. says Syrian forces have killed more than 10,000 people in the crackdown on an uprising inspired by revolts which toppled four Arab leaders in 2011. Syrian authorities say foreign-backed militants have killed 2,600 soldiers and police. 

Activists say Syria's army and pro-Assad militia have committed two massacres in the last two weeks, in the Houla region and a farming hamlet called Mazraat al-Qubeir. Syrian authorities blamed the killings on "terrorists."

Report: Journalist says rebels tried to get him killed

The United States and other Western nations who have been critical of Assad's regime had little new to suggest to end Syria's 15-month long crisis, which has seen the United Nations Security Council deadlocked amid continued support for Assad by veto-holding Russia and China.

The use of civilians as human shields has been reported before.  On March 25, Human Rights Watch released a video purportedly showing how Syrians were forced to walk in front of armored personnel carriers: The international rights organization also quoted a resident of Kafr Nabl as saying:

"They took maybe 25 people, including me. There were also eight children, aged from 10 to 15, among us. They made us march in front and around the military vehicles to some houses where they were searching for wanted opposition activists. We marched for about 600 meters. They were insulting us the whole time. They arrested several people from the houses. Then they made us march back to their base, after which they released all of us, apart from the detained activists. The whole operation lasted for about two hours."

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has tasked an official with "the formation of a new government," state-run media reported Wednesday -- though it was not clear whether the move would bring about any significant change.

Riyad Farid Hijab, who has been agriculture minister since April, was chosen for the assignment, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

In recent months, the Syrian regime has touted what it calls "political reforms" in light of a yearlong uprising that has spawned international condemnation of the government's bloody crackdown on dissidents.

In a public speech Sunday, al-Assad cited recent parliamentary elections as proof that his country is progressing.

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Yet relentless reports of brutality and killings at the hands of his regime suggest the Syrian crisis is far from over.

Intense shelling from tanks targeted a residential area in the Damascus suburbs, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said Wednesday. Heavy shelling, powerful explosions and heavy gunfire also tormented the anti-government bastion of Homs, the group said.

Despite the incessant turmoil, the Syrian government said it will let the United Nations enter the country and deliver humanitarian aid to people in need.

"After a long time of very intense negotiations, we now have an agreement in writing with the Syrian government on the scale, scope and modality of humanitarian action in Syria," said John Ging, director of operations at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"Whether it's a breakthrough or not will depend on the action on the ground. I cannot predict what that will be, but we will work very hard to make it a breakthrough, because the people of Syria need us to break through with a much bigger humanitarian response."

Ging said Tuesday that the Syrian government has signed a memorandum that describes the planned humanitarian response for the approximately 1 million people who need aid urgently.

'Audacious steps' needed in Syria, Arab diplomats says

Meanwhile, Syria announced it was expelling diplomats from 11 countries. The tit-for-tat move came a week after those nations expelled Syrian officials in response to a gruesome massacre in the town of Houla.

Syria's Foreign Ministry said diplomats from the United States, Britain, Switzerland, Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany and Canada were being declared persona non grata.

Among them is U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford, who has been in the United States since February, when the U.S. government closed its embassy in Damascus.

But a U.S. official said Ford will keep working. "This certainly isn't going to stop Ambassador Ford from continuing his important outreach to the Syrian people," Deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington. "He's going to continue our efforts to support a peaceful political transition for which the Syrian people have so bravely fought."

Residents of Houla, where at least 108 people were killed -- almost half of them children -- pleaded via Skype for basic necessities.

"For more than 10 days now, the criminal regime forces have cut off basic food items from entering Houla area," the statement from the opposition Houla Media Center said.

"They stopped flour, gas and medicine from coming in, and they continue to cut off electricity because the main supplying plant was hit by the sporadic shelling," the group said. "We call on relief and human rights organizations to help us and open humanitarian corridors for basic items so you do not become collaborators in the (regime's) massacres."

Houla massacre: Tipping point, but in what direction?

Al-Assad's regime denies responsibility for the massacre and has said it is fighting to stop "armed terrorist groups" -- the same vaguely defined entities it has blamed throughout the 15-month crisis.

Opposition activists and residents have said pro-regime forces shelled the city before going house to house, lining up residents and shooting them.

The United Nations says more than 9,000 people have been killed since the Syrian crisis began in March 2011. Opposition activists put the toll higher, with estimates of at least 12,000 to 14,000.

The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria reported that 51 people were killed across the country Tuesday.

Syria: David Cameron condemns 'brutal and sickening' killing of civilians

"Frankly, the international community has got to condemn absolutely this regime and President Assad for what he is doing.

"I think that lots of different countries in the world - countries that sit around the UN Security Council table - have got to sit down today and discuss this issue.

"None of them should be able to hide from the fact that, if this is true, it will be once again President Assad demonstrating that his regime is completely illegitimate and cannot stand.

"We need to do much more to isolate Syria, to isolate the regime, to put the pressure on and to demonstrate that the whole world wants to see a political transition from this illegitimate regime and to actually see one that can take care of its people.

"It really is appalling, what is happening in that country, and I want to see concerted action from the international community."

He spoke asHillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, called for a full transfer of power from Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime, following reports of a fresh massacre in the country.

Reports on Wednesday night emerged of a bloody mass killing of civilians in the province of Hama, leaving dozens dead. TheSyrian Observatory for Human Rights put the number of villages killed at an initial estimate of 100.

The Syrian government on Thursday denied carrying out the massacre, denouncing the reports as "completely false", and once again laying the blame with a "terrorist group".

An official close to Mrs Clinton on Thursday said: "We can't break faith with the Syrian people who want real change."

Mrs Clinton set forth "essential elements and principles that we believe should guide that post Assad transition strategy, including Assad's full transfer of power," the official said.

Other elements include "the establishment of a fully representative and inclusive interim government which leads to free and fair elections, a ceasefire to be observed by all and equality for all Syrians under the law," the official said.

Mrs Clinton stressed that in the meantime countries in a group of "Friends of the Syrian People" were looking at ways of tightening sanctions against the regime and adding new measures with an eye to peeling away domestic support for Assad.

Countries that provide assistance to the Syrian opposition also agreed to convene a meeting of their experts with opposition representatives in Istanbul at mid month to better coordinate the assistance.

The participants, mainly Arab and European foreign ministers, met here against the backdrop of fresh reports of massacres in Syrias and growing fears of a descent into a destabilising civil war.

They discussed calls made by some countries for invoking Chapter VII of the UN charter, which authorises member states to take "all necessary measures" to carry out UN Security Council decisions.

"The secretary made clear Chapter VII remains on the table at the appropriate time," the official said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official portrayed the secretary's presentation as an attempt to lay out a "common vision" that can unite the international community on action toward Syria in the period ahead.

It was expected to be taken up in debate Thursday at the United Nations when the Security Council meets to hear special envoy Kofi Mr Annan's report on his efforts to salvage a battered peace plan for Syria.

Vehement opposition from Russia and China, however, has so far blocked action at the UN Security Council despite rising condemnation over massacres of civilians by forces loyal to the regime.

Mrs Clinton is sending her special representative on Syria, Fred Hoff, to Moscow on Thursday to sound out the Russians, the official said.

"She made clear that we want to work with Russia, but that we've got to have a common vision," the official said.

Putin rejects Clinton claim on Syria

NEW: "Escalating violence" shows us "we urgently need bolder steps," U.N. leader says NEW: Protesters decry al-Assad, urge action in Syria and in front of U.N. headquartersA U.N. council authorizes an independent probe into last week's massacre in HoulaRussia's president urges the world to be careful intervening in Syria

(CNN) -- Accused by the top U.S. diplomat of "propping up the regime" of Syria's embattled president, Russian officials struck back Friday by denying arms sales to Damascus and claiming international efforts may have fostered instability and violence.

A day after making those accusatory remarks, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday hammered home her claim that Moscow is helping its longtime ally in Damascus through a "very consistent arms trade" that "has strengthened (President Bashar al-Assad's) regime."

"The fact that Russia has continued to sustain this trade in the face of efforts by the international community to impose sanctions and to prevent further arms flowing to the Assad regime, and in particular the Syrian military, has raised serious concerns on our part," Clinton said from Oslo, Norway.

Russian President Vladimir Putin responded hours later by flatly denying "any trading connections (or) military" with its longtime ally Syria.

"The only thing that concerns us in (Syria) is the possibility of radicalization of the situation, the situation getting out of control and the deaths of civilians," Putin said from France, after meeting new French President Francois Hollande.

Our aim is to bring the conflict to peace. We are not dividing them into ours and not ours."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman A.K. Lukashevich earlier Friday spoke even more forcefully, asserting that some international efforts -- including threats of military intervention -- have exacerbated the crisis, pushing Syria closer to civil war and making it easier for "strong religious elements (to) come to the forefront."

"They still give preference to their own agenda, where the change of the ruling regime in Damascus remains the main point," the spokesman said of unnamed "international and regional players" calling for al-Assad's ouster.

They include Hollande who, standing next to Putin, on Friday accused the Syrian president of acting "in an unacceptable and intolerable way" and said he must go.

"There will only be an exit possible with the departure of Bashar al-Assad," he said.

Speaking earlier Friday in Berlin after meeting Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin said that Russia "will maintain contact with President Assad and the leadership of Syria and with regional countries, Arab countries ... in order to find a political solution."

Putin: Russia not 'propping up' Syrian regime

He later warned against the international community acting rashly, especially militarily.

"What happened in Libya and Iraq? ... Have they become safer and better? Where are they moving? Is there an answer? Nobody has it as of yet," Putin said from France. "That's why we're proposing, at least in Syria, to act carefully."

Russia's foreign ministry spokesman also weighed in on last week's massacre in the Syrian city of Houla.

Calling it "a barbaric crime (that deserves) an extremely severe punishment," he said the identity of the perpetrators hasn't been determined yet -- though the U.N. Human Rights Council has noted preliminary reports of government involvement.

Lukashevich alluded to Moscow's concerns that outside forces may be behind such attacks and pointed to the Syrian government's investigation that found "this crime was a well-planned act on behalf of militants with the aim of torpedoing efforts to achieve a political settlement."

"The tragedy in Houla has shown what may result from financial aid to militants, smuggling in modern armament systems for them, recruiting foreign mercenaries and flirting with extremists of all kinds," the Russian spokesman said.

Opinion: Is Syria unsolvable?

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Council on Friday authorized the U.N.'s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria -- which has issued ongoing reports about violence in the country -- to conduct a robust probe into the Houla killings, said council spokesman Rupert Colville.

Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, 41 countries voted for the resolution while Russia, China and Cuba voted against it. Russia and China have blocked tough U.N. Security Council targeting al-Assad's government.

Before the vote, U.N. Human Rights commissioner Navi Pillay called for unimpeded access for an investigation into the massacre, which left 108 people, including 49 children, dead.

Syria told Pillay's office that "terrorist armed groups" were responsible for Houla. It said the military "was acting only in self-defense, and that it sought to protect the civilian population."

She said the massacre "may amount to crimes against humanity and other international crimes, and may be indicative of a pattern of widespread or systematic attacks against civilian populations that have been perpetrated with impunity."

"Once again, I urge the Security Council to consider referring the case of Syria to the International Criminal Court," Pillay said.

Reports of more carnage filtered out of Syria on Friday, with at least 37 people slain across the country, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.

The crisis in Syria began nearly 15 months ago when a tough government crackdown launched against protesters last year spiraled out of control and spawned a national anti-government uprising. It is estimated that between 9,000 and more than 14,000 Syrians have died since then.

Military options for Syria considered if crisis worsens

Fresh reports of terror have emerged this week. In the Homs province village of Bouyda, 12 factory workers were killed Thursday by pro-government gangs known as Shabiha, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. They were lined up against a wall and shot, the group said.

U.N. observers said the bodies of 13 slain people were discovered about 30 miles east of Deir Ezzor, in the eastern part of the country, on Tuesday night.

The violence drove defiant Syrians to the streets on Friday in what was billed as "a merchants' strike to stop massacring children." A revolt by Syria's merchant class -- which has been an integral part of President Bashar al-Assad's support structure -- could elevate the uprising.

Protesters also hit the streets Friday near the U.N. headquarters in New York, re-enacting horrific scenes from Houla and urging world leaders not to "stand-by idly" as the violence continues.

Despite vows of support from the likes of Putin, Pillay, Hollande and even Syrian leaders, the fate of a peace plan pushed by special U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan remained uncertain.

Annan, speaking to reporters in Lebanon, said he realized that many had grown impatient with the situation in Syria and are frustrated by the continuing levels of violence. He defended his mission and six-point plan amid criticism that it is serving as "diplomatic cover for more killings."

"This is, I think, one more reason that one should make greater effort to find a solution," he said. "To suggest that an attempt to find a peaceful solution is a reason for further killings -- I find it difficult to defend because the implication is that ... if we were not discussing ways of getting people to the table to discuss political solutions, there would be no killing. I disagree with that."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday from Turkey that observers, deployed as part of the Annan plan, "are there to help bring about a cease-fire" and "record violations of human rights and also violations of the Annan peace plan." He said they have done a great service, for instance, after the Houla killings by quickly presenting "an authoritative and unbiased account of what happened."

"If the escalating violence shows anything, it is that we urgently need bolder steps," Ban said.

As to what those steps might be, if his peace plan is declared dead, Annan said that's a decision for the U.N. Security Council, which passed a resolution backing the initiative.

"The council and the countries involved will have to keep working together to find a solution," he said. "I am not one of those who believes that there is only one way of solving -- there could be other ways."

CNN's Joe Sterling, Amir Ahmed, Ivan Watson, Holly Yan, Moni Basu and Elizabeth Joseph contributed to this report.

May 30, 2012 -- Updated 0932 GMT (1732 HKT) World powers weighed tough options to end brutality in Syria amid the aftermath of the now-infamous massacre in Houla.May 29, 2012 -- Updated 1653 GMT (0053 HKT) A witness to the massacre in Houla says conditions are "desperate," with medical supplies and food running low.May 29, 2012 -- Updated 1830 GMT (0230 HKT) Horrific images of dozens of mutilated children's corpses in the village of Houla prompted a rare moment of unity from the U.N. Security Council.May 24, 2012 -- Updated 2214 GMT (0614 HKT) U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tells CNN's Christiane Amanpour that the U.N. has no Plan B in Syria.May 28, 2012 -- Updated 1056 GMT (1856 HKT) Observers point to Russia's close ties with Syria going back to the 1950s as a reason for Russia's now defending the al-Assad regime.May 28, 2012 -- Updated 1810 GMT (0210 HKT) Fingerpointing, almost unbearable grief following massacre at Houla. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom reports.May 28, 2012 -- Updated 2124 GMT (0524 HKT) As Syria blocks foreign journalists, Western media are largely relying on amateur photos and videos to tell the story. May 28, 2012 -- Updated 0053 GMT (0853 HKT) Alex Thomson takes us inside Houla, Syria, which is the site of an attack that resulted in the deaths of dozens.May 24, 2012 -- Updated 1534 GMT (2334 HKT) The deadly clashes that are a fact of daily life in Syria have now bled into Lebanon, raising fears of renewed sectarian violence.May 24, 2012 -- Updated 1821 GMT (0221 HKT) The U.S. State Department's annual human rights report shows that efforts by Arab dictators to crush dissent have destabilized the region. Are you in Syria? Share your stories, videos and photos with the world on CNN iReport. For the latest news on developments in the Middle East and North Africa in Arabic.Today's five most popular stories

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Clinton: Russian Stalling Could Push Syria into Civil War

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Russia's failure to take decisive action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "is going to help contribute" to the very civil war officials in Moscow say they are helping to avoid.

Speaking in Denmark Thursday, Clinton said she rejects the Russians' "vociferous...claim that they are providing a stabilizing influence" in Syria. Instead, she said, Moscow is propping up Mr. Assad as his government continues a brutal crackdown on dissent U.N. estimates say has killed more than 10,000 people.

"We have very strong opposition from Russia and China, but it is primarily Russia," Clinton said, "and that makes it harder to put together an international coalition."

Russia has repeatedly blocked the U.N. Security Council from taking punitive action against the Assad government, a longtime Russian ally.

White House spokesman Jay Carney echoed Clinton's warnings about the danger of Syria's unrest morphing into a proxy war that draws in Iran and other regional powers.

"The longer Assad and his thugs are allowed to brutally murder the Syrian people," he said, "the more likely it becomes a sectarian civil war, the more likely that it spills over Syrian borders.'' Carney warned of a "proxy war" with Iran backing Mr. Assad and other outside nations or forces backing insurgent factions.

Also Thursday, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice condemned as "reprehensible" the latest reported Russian arms delivery to Syria. Media reports and rights groups said a Russian cargo ship heavily laden with weapons docked at the Syrian port of Tartus last week.

Western officials confirmed her comments, adding they understood the ship had been carrying arms for the Syrian government.

Syria is one of Russia's top weapons customers. The U.S. and European Union have suggested the U.N. Security Council should impose an arms embargo and other international sanctions on Syria.

U.S. and European security officials say Iran has also offered Assad extensive support to help him suppress anti-government protests, from high-tech surveillance technology to guns and ammunition.

Last week's massacre of at least 108 people in the Syrian town of Houla - nearly half of them children - has rekindled new urgency into efforts to stem the 15-month-old conflict. The U.N. has said much of the killing was carried out at close range, while activists say pro-government militia known as shabiha were responsible.

Syria Government Explanation

The Syrian government said Thursday a preliminary investigation into the atrocity revealed that hundreds of armed men had attacked families who did not join anti-government protests. Brigadier General Qassem Suleiman said the victims were families that "refused to rise up against the government."

Rice called the Syrian report "another blatant lie."

The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday that government troops killed three people in overnight shelling near Houla. Rami Abdel Rahman said a 14-year-old boy was later killed by sniper fire.

Damascus-based U.N. spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh said U.N. monitors based in nearby Homs were traveling to Houla to verify the reports of renewed attacks.

Rebel Deadline

In a statement Thursday, a rebel Free Syrian Army commander gave Assad a deadline of noon Friday local time to start acting on commitments made to international peace envoy Kofi Annan.

Annan was discussing the Syrian crisis with Lebanese officials in Beirut Thursday after talks with Jordanian King Abdullah in Amman.

Rebel Colonel Qassim Saadeddine said his forces would no longer be bound by the Annan peace plan if the Syrian president fails to comply.

The Free Syrian Army is a loosely-organized and lightly-armed rebel group made largely of Syrian military defectors. The Syrian government and the rebels agreed in April to a truce mediated by Annan, but the fighting has continued, with each side accusing the other of violating the deal.

Analyst James Denselow of King's College in London says it would be a mistake for the Free Syrian Army to cut itself off from the U.N.-brokered cease-fire.

"I think they would be falling into a trap if they were to be the ones who unilaterally declared the cease-fire over, because that would allow Assad and the regime to say 'well, they broke it, we still believe in it,' despite the fact that they haven't really been properly observing it," Denselow said.

Cherif Bassiouni of DePaul University said Mr. Assad's government will not in the long run be shielded from prosecution.

"They should know that even though Russia and China are protecting them tomorrow, that if there is a commission that investigates what they're doing and has the evidence, they will not always be immune from prosecution in the future. And this has to be done now while the evidence is fresh,"  Bassiouni said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he "demands" the Syrian government abide by its peace pledges. Speaking at a forum in Istanbul, Mr. Ban said the almost 300-member U.N. military observer team in Syria is not meant to play the role of "passive observer to unspeakable atrocities."

The U.N. chief also warned that more massacres such as the Houla incident "could plunge Syria into a catastrophic civil war ... from which the country would never recover."

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