UN criticises UK for jailing children caught up in riots

The UN children's fund (Unicef) has expressed concern regarding official figures showing 45% of all under 18s detained on charges of rioting and looting had no previous criminal history. The figures were 'very worrying' and represented a possible breach of the 1989 UN convention on the rights of a child, the agency said. Two other UK-based agencies, the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), have also said they believed custodial arrangements, especially for children who had not yet been put on trial, breached the convention. Ministry of Justice figures show that more than 40% of the 269 children arrested during August’s rioting were remanded in custody when their court hearings were not completed by mid-September. This compares with an average remand rate of 10% last year. Of those on remand, 60% had no previous convictions and 45% had had no contact with the judicial system at all, including official reprimands or warnings. 'The UN convention on the rights of the child [CRC] is clear in article 37 that the detention of children should only happen as a last resort in criminal proceedings,” Unicef's UK branch said in a statement: “The fact that 45% of the children detained on charges of rioting and looting are completely unknown to the UK's criminal justice system is, therefore, very worrying,” the statement said. 'The riots are a concern and responsibility for us all. We urge those in charge of responding to the riots not to blame children's rights, but to respect them,' it added. A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said that when custody is used, it is “generally as a last resort for the most serious or persistent young offenders where it is necessary to protect the public.”