A/HRC/21/25 E. Violence as a sentence 57. Violence as a sentence is included under the heading “risks” of violence, but in reality it is more than a risk, as this is violence legitimized by national legislation and is a harsh reality for the children who must endure it. 1. Inhuman sentencing including corporal punishment 58. Corporal punishment as a sentence for convicted children has been prohibited in 155 States (an increase of 22 countries since the United Nations Study). However, at least 42 States still permit corporal punishment as a court-ordered sentence against children.35 The Committee on the Rights of the Child has, in two general comments, 36 stressed that corporal punishment as a sentence amounts to cruel and degrading treatment, which is impermissible under article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Some countries still subject children who have reached puberty to punishments of extreme violence, including flogging, stoning and amputation. 37 2. Death penalty 59. The Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits capital punishment for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age. However, the death penalty for children is still a lawful sentence in seven States. According to Amnesty International reports monitoring the number of children executed, between 2006 and 2011, 37 offenders were executed for crimes committed before reaching the age of 18. The number of juvenile executions has increased over the past decade, with 21 juvenile offenders having been executed during the previous five-year period.38 3. Life imprisonment without parole 60. Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child bans life sentences without the possibility of release. This is an area where there have been positive developments. In American jurisprudence on cases Graham v. Florida39 and Sullivan v. Florida40, a sentence of life without parole for non-homicide crimes committed by a person below 18 years is a constitutional violation; furthermore, some American states have abolished the sentence of life imprisonment without parole for children regardless of the offence committed. 4. Indeterminate sentences 61. Some countries retain indeterminate sentences, whereby a child may be sentenced “at his/her majesty‟s/the president‟s pleasure”. This leaves uncertainty for the child and makes it difficult to promote an effective rehabilitation process and set reintegration goals. 35 36 37 38 39 40 Global initiative to end all corporal punishment of children. See http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org General comments No. 8 (2006) on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment and No. 10 (2007) on children‟s rights in juvenile justice. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed its concern about such sentencing to States including Brunei Darrussalam, Islamic Republic of Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, and has recommended that these countries change their laws to make these sentences unlawful. Amnesty International, “Executions of Juveniles since 1990”, available from: http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/executions-of-child-offenders-since-1990 Graham v. Florida, 130 S. Ct. 2011, 2018, 2030 (2011), handed down in May 2011. Sullivan v. Florida, 130 S. Ct. 2059 (2010) 13