SYRIA

Syria Video

In this picture taken during a UN observer-organized tour, Syrian boys, right, look at Syrian army soldiers, left, as they stand outside a school building used as a temporary military base in Hama city, central Syria, on May 3, © 2012 AP Photo/Muzaffar Salma

Syria More than two years into Syria’s brutal conflict, both government and opposition forces have carried out unlawful policies and practices targeting students and their schools. Human Rights Watch has documented that... At least 2,362, more than 10% of Syria’s 22,000 school buildings, have sustained damage as a result of the conflict; 1,468 additional schools have become shelters for internally displaced. persons; Over 450 schools are completely destroyed; and 3,423 schools have been partially damaged. Since the beginning of the conflict, enrollment has dropped below half the number of students that would ordinarily be registered. Teachers and security agents have interrogated students inside their schools about their political beliefs, their participation in anti-government protests, and the activities of their family members. Students said that admitting participation in activities deemed anti-government could result in a beating or other abuses. Government snipers have shot at civilian demonstrators and passersby, including children, from school rooftops.

Syria Testimonies “[Our school] used to be a safe place,” she said. “But [during the conflict] we were afraid…. Security informants came to school and asked students, ‘Does your dad watch Arabiya? Does he watch Jazeera?’” - Sahar, a teacher in Homs “Government troops used the Ahmad Ghura school, a government school for boys, as a temporary detention center in April They attacked [our] area, arrested 150 men and boys, [and detained] them in the school,” - Fadi, a former teacher from Douma in the Damascus governorate “Government snipers had been posted on the roof of Bassel al-Assad High School, which was next door to [my] family’s house. It also served as a detention center.” - Iman, a 20-year-old woman from Quneitra in Damascus governorate “[While my daughters continued to attend the Abdullah Mahmoud Sweida Girls’ School,] at least two government snipers took up positions on the school roof. The girls were crying all the time… there was a checkpoint directly in front of the school, which put a valid military target at a location that put children at unnecessary risk.” - May, mother from Damascus “In Sheikh Meskin, the Free [Syrian Army] was inside a school and the army attacked it with two tanks. Sixteen people were inside it from the Free Army. [The government army] fired on it until the whole school collapsed.” - Malek from Sheikh Meskin, 6/2012

Syria Resources HRW Report: Safe No More: Students and Schools under Attack in SyriaSafe No More: Students and Schools under Attack in Syria HRW News Article: Learning Under the GunLearning Under the Gun UN Human Rights Council Report: Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab RepublicReport of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic National Post News Article: Syrian government accused of targeting schools, attendance drops after ‘vacuum bomb’ attack New York Times News Article: Syria Orders Schools to Open, but Classes Give Way to War