JERUSALEM POST: Amnesty International: Syria torturing children
The rights watchdog Amnesty International has accused the Syrian authorities of torturing more than 20 children who have been detained since Kurdish riots in March.Also Tuesday, the London-based group condemned what it called the unfair trial of seven Kurds convicted in a Syrian State Security Court on Sunday of separatist agitation and belonging to a secret organization.
Amnesty said it was “gravely concerned” about reports that Kurdish children arrested during clashes in March have been tortured and held incommunicado for months.
“The organization has received the names of more than 20 children, aged between 14 and 17 years, who have reportedly been subjected to various types of torture, leaving scars on their bodies and leading to serious injuries, including broken noses, perforated ear drums and infected wounds,” Amnesty said in a statement sent by e-mail to The Associated Press in Beirut.
There was no comment from the Syrian government, which almost invariably ignores questions about security matters.
Amnesty said more than 20 children are still in detention.
HAARETZ: Report: Israel operating hundreds of agents in northern Iraq
Israel operates hundreds of agents in the Kurdish areas in northern Iraq, according to a report published in the upcoming issue of The New Yorker magazine.In an interview to CNN on Sunday, reporter Seymour Hersh said that hundreds of Israelis, some of them Mossad agents, are operating in the region in order to collect information on Iran’s nuclear program and monitor events in Syria.
According to the report, Israel in the past has had many ties with the Kurds, which with the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime are currently being renewed.