Children in detention

Detention of children for alleged association with armed groups or other threats to security remains a significant concern. This includes the use of administrative detention in several conflict scenarios. An unknown number of children have been captured, arrested and detained by security and law enforcement forces in contravention of international standards for juvenile justice.

As this year's Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed states, detention is a particular concern in countries such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq and Israel.  

Detention of children should be in line with the UN Standards on Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, which include specific protection with regards to the age of the child, access granted to child protection partners, appropriate legal counsel and provision of psychosocial support and activities. The treatment of children must be predicated on the objective of their future reintegration into society.

Child protection actors have regularly raised specific concerns related to  conditions of detention especially in over-crowded facilities, ill-treatment including torture by adult detainees and corrections personnel, and acts of sexual violence perpetrated in detention facilities. The age of criminal responsibility is also a specific concern particularly as relates to children detained on security-related charges. Emphasis should be placed on alternatives to institutionalisation of these children, and on non-judicial and restorative processes. 

Children being detained by multi-national forces is also a concern which must be addressed by Member States. In such cases, access by child protection actors to all facilities, including high-security sites, is necessary to ensuring that procedures of detention and due process for children are in line with international standards. Beyond the responsibility and imperative to protect children, this represents a critical matter of credibility of international and multi-national forces.