A/HRC/21/25 H. Risks in administrative detention 34. Some countries have administrative processes to deal with children who are alleged as having infringed the penal law – usually these are seen as preventive of crime, or ways of “re-socializing” or “re-educating” young people at risk. The major risk of detention measures in such systems is that decisions to detain are often made by officials or committees, with no due process, no opportunity for the child to defend him or herself, no legal representative and sometimes no parental support. The decision, once taken, is difficult to challenge. In many such systems, the decision to detain is not subject to review by a court or other independent judicial body. I. Risk of violence in detention facilities 35. Whether in pretrial detention, administrative detention or detention as a sentence, there is a significant risk of violence that arises simply from being deprived of one‟s liberty. The more overcrowded the facility, and the lower the staff-to-child ratio, the greater the risk becomes. The possible sources of violence in institutional settings are numerous. Violence occurs at the hands of staff working in the institutions, adult detainees where children are not separated, other child detainees, and also in the form of self-harm. 1. Legally sanctioned violence committed by staff working in institutions 36. Children in detention are frequently subjected to violence as a punishment for minor offences. Although 116 countries have abolished corporal punishment in penal institutions as a disciplinary measure (a positive increase of 10 countries since the United Nations Study was finalized), it remains lawful in at least 78 countries. 19 Violent practices are found in both developed and developing countries. Apart from the use of caning and whipping, children may be punished by being confined to cells for lengthy periods, being subjected to solitary confinement, having food rationed, or being subjected to chemical and physical restraints.20 37. Legally sanctioned violence by staff members is a problem in developed as well as developing countries. The use of physical restraints is particularly concerning. Although many countries have laws which permit the use of restraints, their use is generally limited to precisely defined circumstances.21 2. Violence by staff working in institutions 38. The dividing line between illegal and legally sanctioned punishment is a fine one, as many legal measures such as restraints are used incorrectly and in inappropriate circumstances. However, there are some reported incidents that are clearly illegal. 39. In many countries personnel do not have a duty to record incidents or punishments, and no monitoring mechanisms exist. The Five years on report (see para. 21 above) found that in some countries child detainees were subject to degrading and painful punishments, 19 20 21 Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children. See: http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org The Five years on report (see note 11 above) cites situations where children were detained in their cells for more than 20 hours a day and drugs were used to control behaviour, see NGO Advisory Council citing the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Instituto de Estudios Legales y Sociales del Uruguay (IELSUR), Report on the visits in the juvenile justice centres in Uruguay (2011). United Nations Rules for the Protection of Children Deprived of their Liberty, Rule 64. 9