Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Syrian forces use widespread sexual violence to humiliate and silence male prisoners, report says
David Fahrenthold RetweetedA horrific account of the sexual violence inflicted on Syrian prisoners -- and the many reasons survivors have no where to turn for help, by @leloveluck:
Link to tweet
World
Syrian forces use widespread sexual violence to humiliate and silence male prisoners, new report says
By Louisa Loveluck
Reporter in The Washington Post's Beirut bureau, focusing on Syria.
March 11 at 10:35 AM
BEIRUT — Syrian government forces are using widespread sexual violence to humiliate and silence male prisoners, psychologists and a monitoring group said Monday, offering a rare window into a form of abuse rarely discussed by its survivors.
Eight years after the start of Syria’s uprising, more than 100,000 detainees remain unaccounted for, most of them in Syrian government custody. According to the United Nations and human rights groups, torture and abuse are systematic, and thousands, if not tens of thousands, of those detainees are probably dead.
But while many forms of abuse are well-documented, the men who emerge from Syrian government cells — often after years of neglect in near-total darkness — rarely discuss the levels of sexual violence they encountered, and little psychological help is available for survivors.
According to a report released Monday by Lawyers and Doctors for Human Rights, a Syrian rights group, security forces have used rape and enforced sterilization, as well as the tying, burning and mutilation of men’s genitals, to force confessions and submission.
....
Louisa Loveluck is a reporter in The Washington Post's Beirut bureau, focusing on Syria and the wider Middle East. She was previously the Daily Telegraph's Cairo correspondent. Loveluck was The Post's 2016 Laurence Stern Fellow. Follow https://twitter.com/leloveluck
Syrian forces use widespread sexual violence to humiliate and silence male prisoners, new report says
By Louisa Loveluck
Reporter in The Washington Post's Beirut bureau, focusing on Syria.
March 11 at 10:35 AM
BEIRUT — Syrian government forces are using widespread sexual violence to humiliate and silence male prisoners, psychologists and a monitoring group said Monday, offering a rare window into a form of abuse rarely discussed by its survivors.
Eight years after the start of Syria’s uprising, more than 100,000 detainees remain unaccounted for, most of them in Syrian government custody. According to the United Nations and human rights groups, torture and abuse are systematic, and thousands, if not tens of thousands, of those detainees are probably dead.
But while many forms of abuse are well-documented, the men who emerge from Syrian government cells — often after years of neglect in near-total darkness — rarely discuss the levels of sexual violence they encountered, and little psychological help is available for survivors.
According to a report released Monday by Lawyers and Doctors for Human Rights, a Syrian rights group, security forces have used rape and enforced sterilization, as well as the tying, burning and mutilation of men’s genitals, to force confessions and submission.
....
Louisa Loveluck is a reporter in The Washington Post's Beirut bureau, focusing on Syria and the wider Middle East. She was previously the Daily Telegraph's Cairo correspondent. Loveluck was The Post's 2016 Laurence Stern Fellow. Follow https://twitter.com/leloveluck
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
