Chapter4 Access to Justice | 97 feet and hands were handcuffed for long periods of time; he was kept in a cell with fierce dogs; he was threatened with sexual abuse; and his head was covered with a plastic bag. On March 21, 2006, the IACHR granted precautionary measures in favor of Omar Khadr. In October 2010, Khadr pleaded guilty to five war crimes and agreed to a sentence of eight years. In exchange for that plea, he was transferred to a maximum security facility in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 272 In February 2014 he was moved to a medium-security prison in the same province. 273 234. According to the corpus juris for the protection of the rights of children and adolescents, a juvenile justice system must be in place for children and adolescents who violate criminal laws. Corporal punishment, solitary confinement, and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are strictly prohibited under the international law of human rights. Further, when in detention they must be separated from adults. 274 According to international law, children and adolescents who have been recruited or used in armed conflicts are understood to be in a special situation. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, ratified by the United States in 2002, explicitly requires the rehabilitation of former child soldiers, including “all appropriate assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and their social reintegration.” The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which oversees compliance with the Optional Protocol, has criticized the United States' treatment and military prosecutions of children held at Guantanamo, calling on the United States to treat children in its custody in accordance with international juvenile justice standards. 275 235. The Inter-American Commission is also deeply concerned that military commissions can prosecute detainees for acts that are not defined as war crimes under international law, and that were not punishable at the time they were allegedly committed. The IACHR reiterates in this regard that States may not derogate from due process protections that are necessary to protect other fundamental, nonderogable human rights. Further, the IACHR had made clear that these protections “apply to the investigation, prosecution and punishment of crimes, including those relating to terrorism, regardless of whether such initiatives may be taken in time of peace or times of national emergency, including armed conflict.”276 These protections include the right to respect for fundamental principles of criminal law, including the non-bis-in-idem principle, the nullum crimen sine lege and nulla poena sine lege principles, the presumption of innocence, and the right not to be convicted of an offense except on the basis of individual criminal responsibility. 277 272 273 274 275 277 See CBC News Canada: Omar Khadr returns to Canada, September 29, 2012. Available at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/omar-khadr-returns-to-canada-1.937754; See CBC News Canada: Omar Khadr moves to medium-security prison. Available at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/omar-khadr-moves-to-medium-security-prison-1.2532793 IACHR, Juvenile Justice and Human Rigths in the Americas, OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 78, July 13, 2011, paras. 2, 14 and 276. Committee on the Rights of the Child, Report on the forty-eight session, CRC/C/48/3, 19 May-6 June 2008. 276 IACHR, Report on Terrorism and Human Rights, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.116.Doc.5 rev.1, October 22, 2002, para. 261. IACHR, Report on Terrorism and Human Rights, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.116.Doc.5 rev.1, October 22, 2002, para. 261. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR