A/HRC/31/57/Add.1 in their cells for 22 to 24 hours a day. He observed that while solitary confinement for short periods of time may be justified under certain circumstances, with adequate and effective safeguards in place, the use of prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement may never constitute a legitimate instrument of the State and it runs afoul of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In addition, solitary confinement even of short duration is absolutely prohibited when applied to children. Furthermore, due to the prisoner’s lack of communication, as well as the lack of witnesses inside the prison, solitary confinement may also give rise to other acts of torture or illtreatment. 50. The Rapporteur hence finds that the Government, in its reply, does not sufficiently address the concerns, legal obligations, and questions raised in the initial communication and regrets that the Government did not respond to the questions raised in the initial communication regarding the alleged torture and ill-treatment of the minors. 51. In the absence of information to the contrary, the 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 Bahrain, by failing to protect the physical and psychological integrity of the minors in question has violated the right of the 39 minors to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as provided by articles 2 and 16 of the Convention against Torture. (c) JUA 20/11/2015 Case No. BHR 7/2015 State Reply: None to date Allegations concerning the risk of imminent execution of Mr. Mohammed Ramadan and Mr. Husain Ali Moosa following trials that did not meet international standards of fair trial and due process. 52. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Bahrain has not replied to the present communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13. In particular this letter expressed grave concerns regarding the alleged imminent execution of Mr. Mohammed Ramadan and Mr. Husain Ali Moosa following trials that did not meet international standards of fair trial and due process. 53. As observed by the Special Rapporteur in his 2012-report to the General Assembly (A/67/279), there is evidence of an evolving standard within international bodies and a robust State practice to frame the debate about the legality of the death penalty within the context of the fundamental concepts of human dignity and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This evolving standard, along with the resulting illegality of the death penalty under such prohibition, is developing into a norm of customary law, if it has not already done so (para. 74). Even if the formation of this customary norm is still under way, the Special Rapporteur considers that most conditions under which capital punishment is actually applied renders the punishment tantamount to torture and that under many other, less severe conditions, it still amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (para. 75). 54. Regarding the use of solitary confinement in the case of Mr. Mohammed Ramadan, in the Rapporteur’s interim report to the General Assembly of 5 August 2011 (A/66/268), the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment defined solitary confinement, in accordance with the Istanbul Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary Confinement, as the physical and social isolation of individuals who are confined in their cells for 22 to 24 hours a day. He observed that while solitary confinement for short periods of time may be justified under certain circumstances, with 14