A/HRC/21/26 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 18/12, entitled “Human rights in the administration of justice, in particular juvenile justice”, requested the High Commissioner to submit an analytical report to the Council at its twenty-first session on the protection of human rights of juveniles deprived of their liberty, mindful of all applicable human rights standards and taking into account the work of all relevant human rights mechanisms of the United Nations. 2. The present report provides an analysis of the human rights legal framework applicable to the issue of children1 deprived of their liberty. The report also addresses challenges related to the implementation of human rights norms in relation to children deprived of their liberty, in particular issues related to conditions of detention. It further highlights the main principles underlying the juvenile justice system, in particular issues related to the exercise of juvenile criminal jurisdiction ratione personae, the application of certain penalties and the use of alternative measures. 2 II. Applicable human rights legal framework 3. Human rights standards relevant to the protection of human rights of children deprived of their liberty are set out in a series of legally binding international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 4. A number of other standard-setting instruments regulate issues related to deprivation of liberty of persons, including children, in particular: the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;3 the Declaration on Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power;4 the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment;5 the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners; 6 the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules);7 the Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The various relevant international instruments, rules and guidelines refer to persons not considered as adults using either the term “child(ren)” or the term “juvenile(s)”. For reasons of clarity, the term used throughout this report will be “children” unless a specific provision of an instrument, rule or guideline using the term “juvenile” is being quoted. The present report has taken into account relevant standards developed in the context of the human rights as well as in the criminal justice sectors. It has taken into account relevant public information from treaty bodies, special procedures, and relevant United Nations agencies, in particular the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UNICEF, as well as civil society organizations. Economic and Social Council resolution 663 C (XXIV) and 2076 (LXII). General Assembly resolution 40/34. General Assembly resolution 43/173. General Assembly resolution 45/111. General Assembly resolution 45/110. 3