More than 100,000 people, including nearly 10,000 children, have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the conflict three years ago, a United Nations report has revealed.
The report revealed that western-backed opposition groups and Syria government forces are carrying out unacceptable and unspeakable torture against children.
The report said that the opposition is recruiting refugee children in neighbouring countries and the Syrian government forces were detaining and torturing children with rebel links.
The report found that in the early stages of the conflict Syrian government troops carried out grave violations against children and as the conflict intensified armed opposition became more organized and committed an increasing number of child abuses.
According to the Huffington Post, the report is the first to the U.N. Security Council detailing the worsening extent of the problem and covers the period March 1, 2011 to Nov. 15, 2013.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said that armed opposition groups have recruited and used children in support roles and for combat.
Ban said government forces 'were responsible for the arrest, arbitrary detention and torture of children for their perceived or actual association with the opposition, and for using children as human shields,' the report said.
The report found that some of the treatment subjected to children included 'beatings with metal cables, whips and wooden and metal batons; electric shocks, including to the genitals; the ripping out of fingernails and toenails; sexual violence, including rape or threats of rape; mock executions; cigarette burns; sleep deprivation; solitary confinement; and exposure to the torture of relatives,' the report added.
