UN rights office shocked by inhumane treatment of children in Australian detention centre

“Some children were held in isolation for extended periods, sometimes for several weeks, in hot and dark cells with no access to fresh air or running water. In one incident, six children were tear-gassed by prison guards,” said Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN Higher Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in the regular bi-weekly news briefingin Geneva.

“The treatment these children have been subjected to could amount to a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, to which Australia is a party,” he added.

The videos, from 2014, show another child hooded and strapped to a chair for several hours. Others are shown being repeatedly assaulted and stripped naked. According to the children’s testimony, the abuses took place over several years. Most of the children who were held at the detention facility are deeply traumatized, the spokesperson said.

Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that “every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age.”

Colville noted that the announcement by the Government of Australia of an investigation into youth detention in the Northern Territory is an “important step.” In that regard, he encouraged the Government to extend the scope of the investigation beyond the Northern Territory to establish that such treatment is not occurring in any other place of detention in the country.

“We call on the authorities to identify those who committed abuses against the children and to hold them responsible for such acts. The children who were abused at Don Dale should receive psychosocial rehabilitation to overcome the trauma they have suffered,” the spokesperson said, stressing that compensation should also be provided.

He also called on Australia to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.

“This important instrument focuses on the prevention of torture. Under the Protocol, Australia would establish a National Preventive Mechanism which conducts regular visits to all places of detention in the country,” Colville said.

“Events at Don Dale clearly show the immediate need to establish such a system of regular visits to ensure that what happened at Don Dale never happens again in Australia,” he added.

UN Photo

Source: www.justearthnews.com