[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Juan Méndez [official profile] called [UN News Centre report] Tuesday for modifications and alternatives to the detention processes of children in order to ensure their human rights. In a report [text, DOC] presented to the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday, Méndez highlighted the relationship between detention and ill-treatment of children and called for member states to employ higher standards of classification for punishments that are defined as cruel and degrading, especially when applied to children. According to Méndez, “[t]he particular vulnerability of children imposes a heightened obligation of due diligence on States to take additional measures to ensure their human rights to life, health, dignity and physical and mental integrity.” The Special Rapporteur also called for the cessation of the detention of children based on their parents’ migration status. The detentions of migrant children were characterized by Méndez as unnecessary and constituting cruel and inhuman treatment because of the inappropriate conditions of pre- and post-trial incarceration. The Special Rapporteur stressed the importance of oversight, both governmental and from independent sources, and access to basic resources to prevent the torture and ill treatment of incarcerated children.

The mistreatment and torture of children in detention has often been debated by UN member states. In September 2013 Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] accused [URIST report] Bahrain of violating the Convention on the Rights of the Child [text] by detaining children without cause and subjecting them to ill treatment that rose to the level of torture. In late 2012 Egypt was similarly accused [JURIST report] of detaining and torturing children that participated in protests during the Egyptian revolution. In 2012 Syria faced many reports of prolific child abuse and torture amidst their national conflict. Early that year, it was discovered that members of the Syrian army and security officers were torturing and killing [JURIST report] civilian protesters as young as thirteen. One month later UNICEF released a report stating that the violence [JURIST report] in Syria had led to the death and injury of more than 800 children. In June of that year Syrian forces were accused of humiliating, degrading and using sexual violence [JURIST report] as torture on detained men, women and children.