UN experts say 100 children missing since ISIS jail break in Rojava

Source: https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/010420221

Recaptured ISIS prisoners are lined up by the SDF following a jail break by the group in Hasaka. Date: January 2022. Photo: handout

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - United Nations experts said on Friday that the fate of 100 children detained in Hasaka prison in northeast Syria (Rojava) is unknown following a jail break by the Islamic State in January.  

ISIS attacked al-Sina’a prison in Hasaka on January 20 with explosive-laden vehicles and other weapons. This led to over a week of intense clashes between ISIS fighters and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Control of the prison was retaken by the SDF with the support of the global coalition against ISIS, with the recaptured prisoners transferred to another prison.

“We are extremely concerned that since the January 2022 attack, the fate and whereabouts of at least 100 of those boys remain unaccounted for which raises serious concerns relating to their right to life,” the UN human rights experts said a statement. “Some of these cases might amount to enforced disappearance, and where children are concerned, States – and de facto authorities – must undertake special measures of protection that reflect their vulnerability.”

The SDF, which has made several calls on the international community for repatriation of their nationals, called on them to accelerate the process, following the prison break.  

“The authorities in charge of the prison, who have been calling for the immediate repatriation of all foreign nationals, have been given an almost impossible humanitarian, human rights and security responsibility by third country states. Under international law, it is nonetheless incumbent on them to carry out a prompt, transparent, impartial and independent investigation relating to the circumstances in which these boys have disappeared, and to make the results public,” added the experts in their Friday statement. 

Fionnuala Ni Aolain, a UN Special Rapporteur, raised concerns on January 25 over the jailbreak. 

The SDF arrested thousands of ISIS fighters and their wives and children when they took control of the group’s last stronghold in Syria in March 2019. Most of these people are held at al-Hol camp, which is home to around 56,000 people – mostly women and children of different nationalities.