US-backed Syrian rebel group ‘investigating’ child beheading video

A Syrian rebel group, which has received US military backing, said it is investigating the beheading of a young child in Aleppo after video footage circulated showing the boy being killed by a man activists identified as a member of the group.

Images of a fighter killing the boy were as horrific as videos of brutalities committed by Islamic State, which has killed hundreds of captives in Syria and neighbouring Iraq over the last three years.

Before being killed, the boy is seen on the back of a truck being taunted by several men. They say he is from a Palestinian faction which fights in Aleppo in support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

"This is a prisoner from the Quds Brigade. They don't have men any more so they've sent us children today," one of the men says.

“These are your dogs, Bashar, children of the Quds Brigade,” says another.

Amnesty International has said the video is the latest signal that some such groups are carrying out serious abuses with impunity.

“This horrific video showing the beheading of a boy suggests some members of armed groups have truly reached the depths of depravity. It is yet another gruesome example of the summary killing of captives, which amounts to a war crime,” said Colm O’Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland.

“All detainees, including captured fighters, must be treated humanely, and children in particular must be protected. This appalling incident appears to point to a pattern of abuses by armed groups in northern Syria who have free rein to commit summary killings, abductions and torture without any prospect of being held accountable.”

Nour al-Dine Zinki movement

While Amnesty cannot independently verify the details of this incident, its July briefing highlights a series of abuses by armed groups in the region, including the Nour al-Dine Zinki movement, which is believed to be the group behind this killing.

The briefing features cases of people who were abducted and tortured by the Nour al-Dine Zinki Movement. It also includes accounts from media activists who received verbal and written threats from the group after they criticised them.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the men were fighters from the Nour al-Din al-Zinki movement, a rebel group which has received military support channeled from Turkey, including US-made TOW missiles.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was seeking more information on what he described as "an appalling report".

“If we can prove that this was indeed what happened and this group was involved . . . it would give us pause about any assistance or any further involvement with this group,” he told reporters.

In a statement, Nour al-Din al-Zinki denounced what it described as “the human rights abuses that were shared on social media sites”, which did not represent its policies or practices.

It said it had formed a committee to investigate what happened.

“All individuals who undertook the violation have been detained and turned over to the committee for investigations in accordance with the relevant legal standards,” it said.

‘Individual error’

The movement said it condemning the beheading and tried to distance itself from the incident, describing it as an “individual error”, as well as re-affirming its commitment to respecting human rights.

“In addition to condemning such abuses leaders of armed opposition groups must remove from their ranks any members suspected of committing serious violations of international humanitarian law,” Mr O’Gorman said.

“Internationally, states taking part in talks over the Syria conflict must use any influence they have to pressure all armed groups engaged in the conflict to end violations of international humanitarian law including abductions, torture and other ill-treatment.”

Amnesty International has also documented indiscriminate attacks that have killed and injured civilians, in the Sheikh Maqsoud district of Aleppo city which were carried out by the Fatah Halab coalition of armed groups, which includes the Nour al-Dine Zinki movement. It remains the case that the vast majority of people who have died in custody during the last five years have been in the hands of the Syrian authorities.

– (Reuters)