Human Rights Watch condemns ISIL torture of Kurdish children

Human Rights Watch reported on Tuesday that the children, aged 14 to 16, were among 153 Kurdish boys abducted by the ISIL militants on May 29 as they were returning home after taking school exams in the city of Aleppo.

According to the US-based group, the ISIL kept 153 boys at a school in Manbij, a town 55 kilometers southwest of Kobani.

Some 50 of the captives escaped or were released between June and September while the rest of them were released in groups. The last 25 of the children were freed on October 29.

Four of the captive children recounted frequent beatings with hoses and electric cables. They have also been forced to watch videos of the ISIL violence, including beheadings.

“This evidence of torture and abuse of children by ISIS underlines why no one should support their criminal enterprise,” said Fred Abrahams, special advisor for children’s rights at Human Rights Watch.

The militants have seized large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria. They have carried out horrific acts of violence in the two countries, including public decapitations. ISIL has also killed people from Shia, Sunni, Kurd, Christian and Izadi Kurd communities in Iraq.

Kobani and its surroundings have been under attack since mid-September, with the ISIL militants capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages. More than 800 people have been killed on both sides during the battle for the city.

The ISIL advance in the region has forced tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds to flee their homes, mainly into Turkey, which is a stone’s throw from Kobani.