CAT/C/NLD/CO/7 violence, in closed youth care facilities (2,710 in 2017), and that those children are subjected to use of force and coercion and even placement in isolation rooms. It also regrets the lack of information on the restrictive measures used against such children (arts. 11 and 16). 39. The State party should redouble its efforts to improve the situation of children held in closed youth care facilities, including by effectively implementing the action programme on youth help 2018 announced by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and by expediting the drafting of new laws to guarantee the rights of such children. It should take all necessary measures to protect children against the use of force, coercion and restraint and to investigate all allegations of such use. Furthermore, it should provide appropriate protection measures for child victims of sexual violence who are placed in closed youth care facilities, implement appropriate psychosocial and rehabilitation programmes for them and collect detailed data on the placement of children in such facilities, as recommended by the Dutch National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence against Children. Involuntary confinement in mental health-care institutions 40. While taking note of the steps taken by the State party concerning persons with mental disabilities, such as the passage of the compulsory mental health care bill and the partially amended care and compulsion bill, and the plan to close all isolation rooms in 12 large mental health institutions by 2020, the Committee is concerned at the continued high number of involuntary placements in mental health-care institutions. The Committee regrets the lack of detailed information on the duration of solitary confinement, the use of restraints and the medical supervision of those measures (arts. 11 and 16). 41. The Committee reiterates its recommendation (CAT/C/NLD/CO/5-6, para. 21) that the State party should: (a) Develop alternative measures to reduce the number of forcibly interned persons with mental disabilities and ensure that involuntary internments in places of deprivation of liberty, including psychiatric and social care institutions, are done on the basis of a legal decision, guaranteeing all effective legal safeguards; (b) Use restraints and solitary confinement as a measure of last resort when all other alternatives for control have failed, for the shortest possible time and under strict medical supervision, and effectively implement the plan to close all the isolation rooms in 12 large mental health institutions by 2020; (c) Lower the threshold for and improve the quality of outpatient treatment, clarify the criteria for admission to mental health-care institutions and ensure the basic human rights of patients are not violated. Electrical discharge weapons (tasers) and pepper spray 42. The Committee notes with concern that despite its previous recommendations against the routine distribution and use of electrical discharge weapons (tasers) by police officers, the State party conducted a pilot testing from February 2017 to February 2018 without clear instructions on their restrictive use. It is particularly concerned at information that during the pilot period, police officers used tasers in situations where there was no real and immediate threat to life or risk of serious injury, including in cases where targeted individuals were already in police custody. It is further concerned about reports of the frequent use of the so-called “stun mode”, which is intended only to inflict pain, and the incidents in which tasers were used against minors and persons with mental disabilities in health-care settings. In addition, the Committee is concerned about information that the use of pepper spray is not regulated fully in line with the principles of necessity and proportionality and that the new draft instructions on the use of force are expected to further lower the threshold for using force and to permit its use against vulnerable persons, including pregnant women and children (arts. 2, 11 and 16). 10