A/HRC/31/19
grievances. In that regard, the Special Representative welcomes the release, in September
2015, of children from the Serendi Rehabilitation Centre in Mogadishu. Handing over these
children to child protection actors will help to safeguard their rights.
16.
As a key element in protecting children from being unlawfully deprived of their
liberty, the Special Representative called on Member States to put in place standard
operating procedures for armed forces regarding the handover to child protection actors of
children who are captured or who surrender in the course of military operations. In line
with the standard operating procedures, armed forces should hand children over as soon as
possible after they have been encountered by the military so that they can be reintegrated
into society and not be deprived of their liberty.
17.
In instances where children are accused of specific crimes during their association
with an armed force or group, they should not be brought to trial before military courts or
special courts, which often do not fully recognize the special status of juveniles before the
law. The Special Representative continued to remind States that children accused of
criminal acts should be treated in compliance with due process and juvenile justice
standards. Accordingly, the best interests of the child should always be taken into account,
detention should only be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest time possible,
and there should be no capital punishment or life imprisonment for children.
18.
The Special Representative continued to advocate for the strengthening of protection
frameworks for children deprived of their liberty in times of conflict. To that end, she
welcomed the adoption of the Basic Principles and Guidelines on Remedies and Procedures
on the Right of Persons Deprived of Their Liberty to Bring Proceedings Before a Court,
which were submitted to the Human Rights Council in September 2015 (see A/HRC/30/37,
annex). The Basic Principles highlight that basic legal safeguards must be provided in all
circumstances, including for children deprived of liberty for their protection or
rehabilitation, particularly if detained by military or security services. The Special
Representative urges the Council to use the tools at its disposal to ensure the
implementation of the Basic Principles. The Special Representative is also engaged with
other United Nations actors on the initial phase of the in-depth global study on children
deprived of liberty, to be prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 69/157.
Moreover, during the reporting period her Office participated in other forums related to the
deprivation of liberty of children, such as the subregional workshop on the treatment of
children allegedly involved with Boko Haram as alleged offenders, victims and/or
witnesses of crime organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Senegal
in October and the expert meeting on juvenile justice in a counter-terrorism context
organized by the Global Counterterrorism Forum and the International Institute for Justice
and the Rule of Law, held in Malta in November.
C.
Displacement of children as a result of armed conflict
19.
Armed conflict has resulted not only in human casualties and physical destruction,
but also in forced displacement. In the course of the past year, an ever-growing number of
people have fled conflict zones and sought refuge in safer places. UNHCR reports that,
globally, one in every 122 persons is now either a refugee, internally displaced or seeking
asylum. In many situations, as in the Central African Republic, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan
and the Syrian Arab Republic, children, many of them unaccompanied or separated from
their families, represent a high proportion of the displaced population and have been at a
particularly high risk of human rights violations and abuses. Children can be victims of
grave violations inside and around refugee camps or camps for internally displaced persons.
Armed groups take advantage of the vulnerability and concentration of displaced
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