CAT/C/ARM/CO/4 and relevant training courses on specific topics such as the conduct of interrogations in respect of juvenile offenders, witnesses or victims; (c) Integrate the so-called progressive approach to the sentence, involving motivational measures and not only punishment; (d) Bring its legislation and practice on solitary confinement into line with international standards by abolishing the solitary confinement of juveniles as a disciplinary measure, both in law and in practice; (e) Strengthen the existing and develop new educational and rehabilitation programmes aimed at reducing juvenile recidivism and encouraging pro-social behaviour, address the shortage of qualified officers specially trained to work with juveniles and provide adequate extra-regime activities conducive to their social integration. Violence against children in special care institutions 39. The Committee is concerned at reports of violence against and ill-treatment of children in special schools and closed or partially closed institutions such as the Vanadzor Children’s Home and the Vanadzor Care and Protection Centre and at the reported denial of access for human rights NGOs to places of detention and special schools under the Ministry of Education and Science (art. 16). 40. The State party should: provide effective protection against all forms of abuse, violence or ill-treatment of children in special schools and closed or partially closed institutions; investigate allegations of such abuse, violence or ill-treatment and bring the perpetrators to justice; and ensure the access of specialized NGOs to these institutions to monitor the conditions therein. Asylum seekers and non-refoulement 41. The Committee, while welcoming the measures aimed at strengthening protection against refoulement (see paras. 3 (b) and (c), above), is concerned at the absence of any legal basis for remaining in the State party for persons who may not be refouled owing to human rights obligations, but who do not at the same time meet the requirements of the definition of refugee under the Law on Refugees and Asylum, which may potentially leave this category of persons in a situation of legal insecurity. While noting the amendments expanding the provision on exemption from liability for illegal border crossing (art. 329 (3) of the Criminal Code) to all persons seeking asylum and not only to those who are considered for “political asylum”, the Committee is concerned at reports that this provision is not always respected in practice and that some asylum seekers are still detained for illegal border crossing. It is also concerned that, despite the amendments to the Law on Refugees and Asylum that entered into force in January 2016, which provide for access to asylum procedures in penitentiary establishments, such access remains problematic in practice, and that the conditions of detention in reception centres are poor, as a result, among other things, of overcrowding and inadequate sanitary conditions (arts. 2, 3 and 16). 42. The State party should: (a) Ensure that the exemption from criminal responsibility for irregular border crossing for refugees and asylum seekers is strictly enforced in practice and refrain from detaining refugees and asylum seekers on this ground; (b) Establish a legal basis for regularizing the stay of individuals who are eligible to benefit from protection against refoulement under international human rights law but do not fall under the definition of refugee contained in the Law on Refugees and Asylum; 12