A report published by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on the first anniversary of the founding of Islamic State’s (IS) ‘caliphate’ highlights the execution of 3,027 people, 74 children among them.
The radical Sunni Islamist group did not discriminate, putting to death civilians, rebels, members of the regime forces and allied militiamen, as well as 143 fellow IS members.
Charges incurring the death penalty included: insulting God and the Prophet, sorcery, spying for the benefit of the ‘Nusayri’ regime, sodomy, fighting IS, apostasy, betrayal, protesting against IS, coordinating with the awakening movements in Turkey, spying against IS, belonging to Syria’s National Defence Forces, shiism, drug trafficking, banditry, dealing with and supporting YPG (Syrian Kurdish militia), sleeper cells to fight IS, being trained by the international coalition in Turkey, establishing wakening movements to fight IS, recruiting al-Shaitaat people in Palmyra camp and other charges.
In addition to the 74 executed children, the report suggests that of the 1,787 civilians shot, beheaded, burned, stoned, drowned or thrown from a height, 86 were women.
The Independent recently reported two boys under the age of 18 were crucified in Syria for not fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. This is in addition to “several cases of mass executions of boys, as well as reports of beheadings, crucifixions of children and burying children alive” set out in a report published in February by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The barbaric execution methods are not limited to children. As reported elsewhere on Breitbart prisoners of IS have been drowned in a locked cage, decapitated having been chained together with explosive necklaces and burned to death locked in a car hit by an RPG.
The extreme nature of the killings appears to be a means to an end, a propaganda device to spread fear and obedience among those under IS rule. Some outside observers have found it impossible to square with the Islam they know, leading them to denounce it as a form of heresy. Others have sought to place the blame with radical Islam’s usual suspects.
The Jerusalem Post reports a Syrian analyst who claims to have identified the source of IS unusual cruelty – “an insidious Israeli influence”. Hessam Shoaibran’s told Iran’s semi-official news agency FARS that IS barbarity stands apart from other groups’ actions in the Middle East and is therefore Israel’s fault, saying:
“Israel’s presence in [Islamic State’s] command center is indicated by the savagery of this terrorist group that is based on Talmudic rituals.”
The Jerusalem Post concluded:
“The Islamic State has featured a host of gruesome deaths as propaganda tools meant to galvanize potential recruits from across the world into joining its cause, yet while some Arab Israelis have left the country to join them, Israel’s Talmudic sages have yet to send their pupils to consult the jihadists on their tactics.”