The report provides a thorough analysis of the situation of children deprived of liberty in Benin. Through monitoring visits, the OMCT and its local partner IELSUR (member of the OMCT SOS/Torture network member since 1985), together with other local NGO partners from the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Uruguay, have observed that the conditions in some juvenile detention centres may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Such findings reflect those made by the Special Rapporteur on torture, Manfred Novak, during his mission to Uruguay in 2009.[1] In particular, several of the pre- and post-trial facilities are run down, extremely dirty, and inappropriate for children’s and adolescents’ needs. In some centres, adolescents are kept in their cells for more than 20 hours a day with no possibility of educational or leisure activities. Despite recent improvements, the administration of drugs (soporifics) continues to be used as a means of controlling child detainees.
The report contains a series of detailed recommendations addressed to the authorities and other relevant stakeholders. It aims to encourage action in order to enhance the protection of child detainees from violations of their human rights, in particular torture and ill-treatment.
[1] Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture, Mission to Uruguay, UN Doc A/HRC/13/39/Add.2, 2009.
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