Children in detention need access to their families

Thank you, Mr. President,

The OMCT welcomes the Special Representative for her report shedding light on the increase of violence against children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the last two years, the OMCT and its partners have witnessed the devastating impact of the pandemic on children deprived of liberty, and especially a steep increase in cases of torture and other ill-treatment of children detained.

In many countries, access to detention centers to external entities, including families or civil society organisations that monitored the detention conditions of children, has been prohibited. This has increasingly exposed children to torture, behind closed doors and out of any external sight, leaving children even more invisible and vulnerable.

This situation is still ongoing. In Benin or Togo for example, civil society organisations and families have not been allowed in the prison since the start of the pandemic. Some children have not seen their parents in two years, which can constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Access back to detention is urgent, including, if necessary, through remote communication, or taking precautionary measures.

We urge the Special Representative to call on all States to allow access to civil society organisations and families to children’s places of detention, and to respect the absolute prohibition of torture of children.

We also welcome the Special Representative’s focus on children on the move. The OMCT’s new report on Migration and Torture highlights that children are subjected to serious human rights abuses, including torture, at all stages of their journey. We echo the Special Representative’s call to never detain children for immigration purposes and call on all States to protect migrant children from torture.