A/HRC/21/25 E. The right to appear before a court or tribunal to challenge detention 28. Building upon children‟s right to challenge the legality of deprivation of liberty before a court and to have a prompt decision on such action, the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its general comment No. 10 (2007) on children‟s rights in juvenile justice provides that no child should be detained for more than 24 hours without a judicial order. However, even countries where there is a shorter specified time period do not always manage to abide by the law. A study conducted in Tanzania by the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance supported by Penal Reform International indicated that 70 per cent of children sent to police stations are detained for more than 24 hours before being sent to the courts.16 29. Detaining a child in a police cell for even a few hours presents a risk of violence. Where there is no law requiring him or her to be brought before a court or other body within a limited period of time, or if such law is flouted, children are at grave risk as the courts are unaware of the child‟s detention. Children who do not have parents or families who will raise concerns can get “lost” in the system under these circumstances. 17 F. Risks at court and during trial 30. Appearance before a court or tribunal is considered a protective factor and presiding officers and prosecutors can do much to prevent delay and ongoing detention of children. Too often, however, they are neglectful or indifferent to the plight of children, and thereby contribute indirectly to the harm children suffer. In some instances, they directly contribute to psychological and verbal violence against children in the manner that they interrogate or cross-examine them in court. The court process itself may be experienced as psychologically violent by children, and this will be greatly alleviated if the child is assisted by a parent/guardian/responsible adult, and by a legal representative or assistant. 31. Court admission of evidence obtained through torture or threats is a common occurrence in many justice systems, and this contributes to the rising problem of impunity. G. Risks associated with pretrial detention 32. The majority of children deprived of their liberty are in pretrial detention, and it is disturbing that many of these children are subsequently found not guilty. 18 33. There is a lack of oversight and monitoring in pretrial detention, particularly in police cells. Lack of contact with the outside world is less frequent than for sentenced children, which means that children who are ill-treated have fewer possibilities to report incidents. There are also risks of violence related to court appearance, with children often transported to court and held in court holding cells together with adults. 16 17 18 8 Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance, Inspection Report for Children in Detention Facilities in Tanzania (June 2011). Human Rights Watch, Children of the Dust: Abuse of Hanoi Street Children in Detention (2009). UNICEF, The Development of Juvenile Justice Systems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Lessons from Albania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Ukraine (2009).