Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
June 4, 2022
On the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) stresses that Syrian children have gone through unspeakable suffering for the last eleven years as a result of the atrocious crimes of the Assad regime towards all segments of the Syrian people.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented the names of 24,983 children who have been killed by the Assad regime and Russia since 2011. In many of the crimes they committed, the Assad regime and its allied militias killed entire families with utmost brutality and hatred. The whole world witnessed this brutality in the body of the child Hamza al-Khatib who was detained and killed under torture at the hands of the Assad regime in the early months of the revolution.
Added to these are the crimes that the Assad regime and its allies committed with the use of missiles, heavy artillery and warplanes, targeting infrastructure, cities and residential neighborhoods. These attacks demolished civilian homes on the heads of their residents, without distinguishing between children, men and women, as the Assad regime is ben on killing whoever demands freedom and dignity.
The SOC stresses that the suffering of Syrian children has not ended as the Assad regime still detains thousands of children who are at a serious risk of dying under torture. The Assad regime is also responsible for displacing millions of children with their families, thus depriving them of their legitimate rights to education and a decent life.
It is imperative that the United Nations work seriously to protect the children of Syria; support political transition in accordance with UN Resolution 2254; and hold the criminals of the Assad regime accountable for their war crimes.
