A/HRC/21/26 Fair trial guarantees 41. The right of children to fair trial, including the right of the child to be heard, is often inadequately protected.102 In particular, children are dealt with in the absence of their parents or guardians and rarely provided with legal assistance, including while in court, resulting, inter alia, in coerced confessions and unlawful investigative practices. 103 Moreover, parents are not always informed of the detention of their children, and children are not permitted to contact their families.104 Prohibited penalties 42. Sentencing of children remains severe and disproportionate in a number of States.105 The death penalty is not explicitly prohibited in national law or is imposed on children or persons who were under the age of 18 at the time of the commission of the offence. 106 Furthermore, corporal punishment, including sentences such as whipping, amputation, flogging, caning, stoning and other forms of punishment, is still a sentencing option in some States.107 Children are sometimes sentenced to life imprisonment or are detained for long periods of time.108 It should be noted that, while international standards only prohibit the application of life imprisonment for children if it does not foresee the possibility of parole, the application of such penalty does in any case fail to meet the overall objective of reintegration and re-socialization that characterizes the juvenile justice system. Deprivation of liberty 43. Deprivation of liberty is often not used as a measure of last resort.109 Detention is regularly used against children in conflict with the law, as reflected by the high number of 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 Committee on the Rights of the Child, concluding observations: Moldova (CRC/C/MDA/CO/3), para. 72; Timor-Leste (CRC/C/TLS/CO/1), para. 73; Cambodia (CAT/C/KHM/CO/2), para. 14. Committee against Torture, concluding observations: Austria (CAT/C/AUT/CO/4-5), para. 10; Israel (CAT/C/ISR/CO/4), para. 27; Human Rights Committee, concluding observations: Argentina (CCPR/C/ARG/CO/4), para. 23. Committee on the Rights of the Child, concluding observations: Suriname (CRC/C/SUR/CO/2), para. 69; Human Rights Committee, concluding observations: Israel (CCPR/C/ISR/CO/3), para. 21; report on the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to Mexico (CAT/OP/MEX/1), para. 245; Honduras (CAT/OP/HND/1), para. 42. Committee on the Rights of the Child, concluding observations: Sri Lanka (CRC/C/LKA/CO/3-4), para. 77(f); Moldova (CRC/C/MDA/CO/3), para. 72; Georgia (CRC/C/GEO/CO/3), para. 70(d). Committee on the Rights of the Child, concluding observations: Laos (CRC/C/LAO/CO/2), para. 71; Committee against Torture, concluding observations: Yemen (CAT/C/YEM/CO/2/Rev.1), para. 21 ; Human Rights Committee, concluding observations: Islamic Republic of Iran (CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3), para. 13. Committee on the Rights of the Child, concluding observations: Seychelles (CRC/C/SYC/CO/2-4), para. 42; Mauritania CRC/C/MRT/CO/2), para. 40; Report on the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to Maldives (CAT/OP/MDV/1), para. 26. Committee on the Rights of the Child, concluding observations: Singapore (CRC/C/SGP/CO/2-3), para. 68 (d); Denmark (CRC/C/DNK/CO/4), para. 65 (c); Committee Against Torture, concluding observations: Turkey (CAT/C/TUR/CO/3), para. 21 Committee on the Rights of the Child, concluding observations: Mozambique (CRC/C/MOZ/CO/2), para. 88; Bolivia (CRC/C/BOL/CO/4), para. 81; Eritrea (CRC/C/ERI/CO/3), para. 78. 13