A/64/215 IV. Children in detention 61. Where resources for the fulfilment of basic needs are scarce, the establishment of hierarchies among human beings can instantly be observed. At the bottom are often people who are marginalized because of their age, social status, health condition or disabilities, gender, ethnic or religious origin, status as foreigners or sexual orientation or owing to a drug addiction. 62. International human rights law and standards provide for specific measures for particular categories of detainees, responding to the special situations and needs of such groups. Furthermore, particular consideration should be given to non-custodial measures in relation to groups made vulnerable in detention because they are more likely to experience increased suffering. In several of his past reports, the Special Rapporteur has addressed the particular needs of specific groups in relation to torture and ill-treatment, e.g., the needs of women regarding reproductive health care, family contact, hygiene, etc. (see A/HRC/7/3); persons with disabilities, in relation to whom the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities establishes standards regarding “reasonable accommodation” (see A/63/175); and drug users, who need special attention to treat withdrawal symptoms but also regarding medical treatment in more general terms, including access to opioid substitution therapy, HIV/AIDS prevention, etc. (see A/HRC/10/44). A. The dual vulnerability of child detainees 63. Twenty years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and in spite of the many voices defending the rights of children, 14 children remain particularly vulnerable in detention; 15 according to cautious estimates, currently more than one million children are deprived of their liberty and held in police stations, pretrial facilities, prisons, closed children’s homes and similar places of detention (see A/61/299, para. 61). The vast majority of these children are accused of or sentenced for a petty offence; contrary to popular belief, only a small fraction is held in relation to a violent crime. Most of them are first-time offenders. 16 64. The human rights of children deprived of their liberty deserve particular attention owing to the dual vulnerability of such children: firstly, owing to their detention and like all other detainees, they depend on the State for care; secondly, owing to their age, their psychological stage of development and their physical fragility, what is at stake is not only the well-being of the child at the moment of deprivation of liberty but also his or her further development. From a developmental and psychological perspective, children are in their “formative years”, making their time in detention particularly influential on the rest of their lives. __________________ 14 15 16 18 See, for example, the reports of previous Special Rapporteurs (E/CN.4/1988/17 and E/CN.4/1996/35) but also the landmark study of the independent expert on violence against children (A/61/299). On the need for a comprehensive juvenile justice policy, see HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (vol. II), sect. VI, Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 10 (2007). See United Nations Children’s Fund, “Children in conflict with the law”, child protection information sheet (May 2006). 09-43792