A soldier speaks to a group of boys in the courtyard of the Alternative Detention Centre for some 200 at-risk youths and juvenile offenders in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen.
UNICEF/ HQ00-0751/Cedric Galbe
More than 1 million children around the world are currently locked up by law enforcers. Most of them haven’t been proven guilty – they are under arrest or on remand, so no court has heard the charges against them. For example, six years after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, 4,454 children were in prison, waiting for their cases to be heard. More than 450 of these children had been formally cleared of any involvement in the genocide, but they were still locked up.
Some jailed children face the ultimate punishment: Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Yemen were all reported to have executed juvenile offenders in the 1990s.
Many children in detention suffer severe violations of their basic rights. Often, around the world, children are arrested and detained for very minor reasons. Many haven’t even committed a crime. They are deprived of their liberty for what are called ‘status offences’ such as begging, smoking, drinking alcohol, being homeless, or dropping out from school. Others are jailed for reasons such as race, religion, nationality, ethnicity or political views. Children are often kept in police custody even though they are below the age of criminal responsibility.
Children are often kept in horrific, inhumane conditions in police stations and jails - no heat, inadequate food, insufficient beds, lice-ridden blankets, and poor sanitation facilities. Some children are kept in solitary confinement for long periods. Others are locked up with adults who may abuse them. Physical and sexual abuse is common and serious injury from torture also occurs.
In some countries, including Britain, children end up losing their freedom because they accompany their parents who are seeking asylum. They can be locked up in detention centres, often with fewer rights than adult criminals in prisons.
Lots of people think that children in conflict with the law should be severely punished. But the Convention on the Rights of the Child says that their treatment aim to help them mend their ways and make a useful contribution to society. A child in conflict with the law has the right to be treated dignity and worth. Punishments should take the child's age into account. Locking up children - in prisons, detention centres, cells, or youth offending institutions - should be avoided whenever possible.
Children who are arrested must get a fair trial and access to legal advice. They should still be able to have contact with their families, and should have privacy, exercise and access to education. They should be protected from abuse and should have access to medical treatment.
How UNICEF helps
UNICEF works to find alternative solutions to depriving a child of liberty and protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse. We also work to prevent juvenile crime as well, for example our education work can keep children away from environments where they are likely to become involved in crime.
A proper approach to juvenile justice also requires that efforts be made to prevent children coming into contact with the law in the first place. This is an obligation at all levels, not least at government level.