A/HRC/34/54/Add.3 never constitute a legitimate instrument of the State, as it may cause severe mental and physical pain or suffering, a point which has been reiterated in paragraph 28 of the General Assembly resolution 68/156, stating that prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement runs afoul of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 15. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government of Australia to fulfill its obligations under the CAT by immediately taking the necessary measures to protect the physical and psychological integrity of asylum seekers in detention and to provide adequate redress to the victims and undertake effective measures to prevent the recurrence of these acts. JAL 05/08/2016 Case No. AUS 6/2016 State Reply: 06/10/2016 Allegations of torture, ill-treatment, and prolonged solitary confinement of juvenile detainees in Don Dale detention centre in the Northern Territory. 16. The Special Rapporteur thanks the government of Australia for its reply, dated 6 October 2016, to the present communication. 17. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges the account of the Government in response the concerns, legal obligations, and questions raised in the initial communication. He takes note of the information provided by the government indicating that the Northern Territory has accepted and implemented various recommendations proposed in the Vita Report, the Gwynne Report, and the Hamburger Report; that the individual alleged to have been responsible for the allegations is under investigation; that the use of hoods on children in detention has been ceased; and that a special taskforce within the Northern Territory Police Force was established to investigate allegations of violence against juvenile detainees. 18. However, the Special Rapporteur finds that the Government, in its reply, did not sufficiently address the practice of solitary confinement and detention conditions at the Don Dale center. In particular, no information has been provided as to whether the government has prohibited the practice of solitary confinement. Furthermore, the Royal Commission has not yet issued its report and, therefore, there is no information concerning any measures to redress the sanitary conditions, ventilation, access to light or running water of the Don Dale detention center, that lack of which violate the prohibition against torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment as codified in the Convention Against Torture (CAT). 19. In the absence of information to the contrary, the Special Rapporteur concludes that there is substance in the allegations presented in the initial communication, available via the link above, and is therefore of the view that the Government of Australia, by failing to protect the physical and psychological integrity juvenile detainees at the Don Dale Detention Centre, including by subjecting them to prolonged solitary confinement and confining them in unsanitary and inadequate facilities, has violated the right of these detainees to be free from torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, as provided by articles 1, 2, and 16 of the CAT. 20. The Special Rapporteur reminds the Government that, as observed in his report on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (A/66/268), in which it is stated that the use of prolonged solitary confinement (more than 15 days) in itself runs afoul of the absolute prohibition of tore and other ill-treatment, as codified in articles 1, 2, and 16 of the CAT and article 37(a) of the Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC). Moreover, the Special Rapporteur has recommended that solitary confinement of children of any duration and for any purpose be prohibited. 8