syria-un-20111123 17

A/HRC/S-17/2/Add.1 17 3. Violations of the right to peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of expression 88. Efforts by the Government to control information and the right to freedom of assembly and expression lie at the heart of the current violence. Consistent eyewitness and victim accounts indicate that military and security forces have reacted excessively to peaceful demonstrations, including the use of live ammunition to quell demonstrators and extensive cases of arbitrary detention. The presidential decree on freedom of assembly issued on 21 April has not ensured respect for human rights. The commission notes with great concern the widespread harassment of human rights defenders and journalists. 89. The commission concludes that the Syrian Arab Republic has systematically violated the rights to freedom of assembly and expression as enshrined in articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 4. Arbitrary detention and violations of the right to a fair trial 90. The commission is seriously concerned about the absence of judicial independence and the extensive use of arbitrary and incommunicado detention without criminal charges or judicial supervision. Mass arrests have regularly been made by military and security forces. Detainees were charged with broadly defined crimes such as “weakening the national sentiment”, and prosecuted at random in civil or military courts. Despite the abolition of the Supreme State Security Court in April 2011, military courts continue to operate in clear violation of the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal. The commission notes with concern reports indicating the practice of involuntary and enforced disappearances. 91. The commission concludes that the Syrian Arab Republic has systematically violated the right to liberty and security of a person and of fair trial standards as enshrined in articles 9, 10 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and articles 37 and 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 5. Torture and sexual violence 92. Information received demonstrates patterns of continuous and widespread use of torture across the Syrian Arab Republic where protests have taken place. The pervasive nature, recurrence and reported readiness of Syrian authorities to use torture as a tool to instil fear indicate that State officials have condoned its practice. Information from military and security forces defectors indicates that they received orders to torture. The commission is particularly disturbed over the extensive reports of sexual violence, principally against men and boys, in places of detention. 93. The commission concludes that the extensive practices of torture indicate a State-sanctioned policy of repression, which manifestly violates the State’s obligations under article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, and article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 6. Violations of children’s rights 94. The commission expresses its deepest concern over consistent reports of extensive violations of children’s rights committed since the start of the uprising in March, including killings of children during demonstrations and widespread practices of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, in particular of boys. Children were subjected to the same conditions and abuses in detention as adults. The commission concludes that the State has fundamentally failed its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 24 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention against Torture