violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“It was like being crucified on an iron bed. I tried to resist, but seven or eight guards pushed me downon my back onto a hard iron frame. They stretched out my arms and legs and chained them to the fourcorners of the bed. I had to lie there like that from the evening till the next morning.”Girl, 16, Middle East, 2003 VII198Violence against Children in care and justice institutionsSocial Welfare and Development within eighthours of a child’s arrest are frequently notobserved, and children may remain detainedin police cells for up to a month. 127 In Jamaica,an investigation in the late 1990s found thatmany children who were abused, neglectedor accused of only petty offences remainedin filthy and overcrowded police lock-ups forperiods of eight months or more. 128Similarly, violence may be used against childrenin the custody of security and militaryforces in occupied or disputed territories. InIsrael and the Occupied Palestinian Territory,over 1,400 Palestinian children were arrestedby Israeli military authorities between 2000and 2004. Affidavits by Palestinian childdetainees indicated that most were subjectedto one or more forms of mistreatment duringtheir period of arrest and interrogation includingsexual harassment, and physical and psychologicalthreats. 129Violence as a sentenceCorporal punishment as a sentence for childrenconvicted of offences has been prohibited in177 States and territories, and a series of humanrights judgments have condemned the practice.However, some 31 States and territories stillpermit corporal punishment as a court sentenceagainst children. 130 For example, Malaysia’sChild Act allows the whipping of children foundguilty of an offence. 131 In Tonga, the CriminalOffences Act stipulates that boys under the ageof 16 can be whipped up to 20 times.In certain countries, children who are judgedto have reached puberty may be sentenced topunishments of extreme violence, includingflogging, stoning, and amputation. For example,the CRC has expressed concern aboutsuch sentencing of children to States includingBrunei Darrussalam, the Islamic Republicof Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, andYemen, and has recommended that these countriesamend existing laws to make these practicesunlawful. 132Although universally condemned and prohibitedby international law (ICCPR, article 6,CRC, article 37a), some States still demandcapital punishment for crimes committedby children. Since 1990, Amnesty Internationalhas recorded 39 reported executionsof child offenders in eight countries – China,the Democratic Republic of the Congo, theIslamic Republic of Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan,Saudi Arabia, the USA, and Yemen. 133 InMarch 2005, however, the US Supreme Courtruled that the death penalty could no longerbe imposed on individuals for crimes committedbefore the age of 18, and the remaining72 persons who had been sentenced to deathfor crimes committed as juveniles were thenremoved from death row. 134A life sentence without the possibility of releasefor offences committed by children is alsoproscribed by international law (CRC, article37a). However, at least 15 countries have lawsallowing this, although only a handful imposethe sentence in practice. Outside the USA,there are only about a dozen child offendersknown to be serving life sentences. In the USA,however, by 2005 some 2,225 individuals hadbeen sentenced to serve the rest of their lives