failure to support them may reinforce the trauma they have suffered and be a contributing 82 factor to VERLT or, at a minimum, hinder rehabilitation efforts. Children may be particularly vulnerable to VERLT in prisons. The radicalization of children in prisons leading to terrorism or violence is a matter of ongoing discussion and requires more research. The fear associated with the arrival in prison and uncertainty related to the experience of detention, together with the separation from their family and social environment, can lead children to join groups or follow strong individuals as an attempt 83 to find security and safety. Such relationships are, therefore, “indicative of a need for 84 security and protection, rather than an indicator of risk of radicalization”. Furthermore, the failure to separate children from adults can increase the risk of violence and abuse, as well as of radicalization leading to terrorism or violence. It is a recognized minimum standard that every child deprived of liberty must be separated from adults unless it is 85 considered in the child’s best interest not to do so, such as those cases where they 86 would be separated from their parents at an early age. The practice of placing children charged with terrorism in high security divisions with adults is of real concern in this 87 context. Some children suspected or convicted of violent extremism-related offences may not have been radicalized to violence but, instead, may have been forced to join a violent 88 extremist group under severe duress. It is difficult to determine whether a child was recruited voluntarily, or even whether a child has the capacity to give informed consent in this context. Children should, therefore, be considered as victims of recruitment and 89 exploitation. The UN Security Council has clearly stated that “children who have been recruited in violation of applicable international law by armed forces and armed groups and are accused of having committed crimes during armed conflicts should be treated 90 primarily as victims of violations of international law.” Where children are involved, more often they provide functional support to terrorist groups (transferring of funds, acting 91 as couriers, etc.) rather than directly taking part in violent acts. They are often “both 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 Ibid., p. 29; PRI “Preventing Radicalization in Prisons”, op. cit., note 64, p. 8. PRI, “Preventing Radicalization in Prisons”, ibid., p. 8. PRI, “Children and Violent Extremism: International Standards and Responses from Criminal Justice Systems”, p. 11. For the principle of separation of children and adults in places of detention, see UN CRC, op. cit., note 14, Article 37c. See also: United Nations, “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights” (ICCPR), 16 December 1966, Article 10(2)(b). UN General Assembly Resolution 45/113, “United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (the Havana Rules)”, 14 December 1990, Rule 29. This is, of course, further to the concern that children are subject to criminal law and criminal courts for adults. UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, “Concluding Observations on the Combined Third to Sixth Periodic Reports of Malta”, 31 May 2019, CRC/C/MLT/CO/3-6, para. 44. For a discussion about human rights challenges pertaining to children who have been recruited and used by armed groups as victims of violations of international law, see: ODIHR, Guidelines for Addressing the Threats and Challenges of “Foreign Terrorist Fighters” within a Human Rights Framework, op. cit., note 23, pp. 68-72. UNODC, Handbook on Children Recruited and Exploited by Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups: The Role of the Justice System, (Vienna: ONODC, 2017), p. 27 and pp. 40-46. UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, “General Comment No. 24”, op. cit., note 14, para. 100; UN Security Council, Resolution 2427 (2018), S/RES/2427 (2018), 9 July 2018, para. 20. Global Center on Cooperative Security & ICCT, “Rehabilitating Juvenile Violent Extremist Offenders in Detention”, op. cit., note 47, p. 2. See also “Children and Violent Extremism”, op. cit., note 84, p. 7. 25