A/HRC/40/49 recruited, used and exposed to violence at an early age must not be doubly victimized. Rehabilitation and reintegration should be the primary objective for all children emerging from such traumatizing environments. If detention is warranted, it should always be as a last resort, for the shortest time possible and guided by the best interests of the child. If children are accused of a crime during their association with armed groups using violent extremist tactics, they should be processed by the juvenile justice system rather than military courts, which frequently fail to apply international juvenile justice standards and due process. The General Assembly, in its resolution 70/291 on the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy Review, reiterated that every child alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the law should be treated in a manner consistent with his or her rights, dignity and needs, in accordance with applicable international law, in particular obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Bearing in mind the relevant international standards on human rights in the administration of justice in that regard, Member States are urged in the Convention to take the relevant measures to effectively reintegrate children. 18. However, increasingly, large numbers of children are being systematically arrested and detained in operations countering violent extremism for their alleged association with parties to conflict. Such children are commonly regarded as a security risk and subsequently exposed to further violations of their rights. For instance, as ISIL lost control over most of the territory it had previously held in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, 1,200 children of different foreign nationalities were being held at Rusafa prison in Baghdad. In the Syrian Arab Republic, by June 2018 it was reported that at least 1,175 children, of whom a majority were under the age of 12, were deprived of their liberty in three different sites across the north-eastern part of the country, managed by the Kurdish authorities and guarded by Asayish police forces, on the basis of suspected family ties with foreign ISIL fighters. 19. The Special Representative emphasizes that justice mechanisms, specifically for juvenile justice, have to be strengthened in affected countries to respond to those challenges. That requires, inter alia, the establishment of a minimum age of criminal responsibility that is applied without exception, regardless of the gravity of the offence or whether it is terrorism-related. The Special Representative recalls that the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommends setting the minimum age of criminal responsibility no lower than 12 years and urges Member States to set it higher.1 Children who exceed the minimum age of criminal responsibility but are under the age of 18 should be prosecuted and adjudicated in a specialized juvenile justice system, without exception, based on the gravity of the charges. The Special Representative also recalls that under international law, it is prohibited to impose the death penalty upon persons who were under 18 years of age at the time the offence was committed. 20. States whose citizens have travelled to conflict zones to join armed groups using violent extremist tactics should facilitate the return of all children holding their citizenship for the purposes of rehabilitation and/or reintegration, in full compliance with international law, including the right to a fair trial and the principle of non-refoulement. Attempts to separate out children who are deemed to constitute a potential security threat should be rejected. The goal is to rehabilitate all children and reintegrate them back into society, as they have been exposed to extreme violence and are in dire need of physical and mental health care and other services, to ensure that they can take their place as peaceful members of society. Particular attention must be given to the detrimental impact of stigma for children returning to their communities or other areas, the risk of secondary victimization and the increased protection concerns faced by unaccompanied children. 21. The Special Representative has actively promoted a rights-based approach to address the plight of children recruited or affected by violent extremist groups, in cooperation with relevant partners within and outside the United Nations. She co-led a group of United Nations counterparts working on the issue of violent extremism and terrorism to explore how child rights can be upheld in that context. Her Office also 1 See general comment No. 10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice. 7