In a statement on Thursday, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, said the agency was “deeply concerned by reports that children arrested in connection with recent public unrest in Iran remain in detention.”
“While the number of children currently detained nor the conditions of their detention cannot be verified, we urge that all detained children be granted immediate and independent access to assess their situation, treatment and well-being,” he said.
Lasting consequences
Beigbeder stressed that detention can have lasting consequences for young people.
“The adverse impact of the detention and incarceration of children is well documented. Children are not ‘little adults’, they need special care. Deprivation of liberty has long-lasting consequences for the development of the child, but also for the future of society at large.”
He added that children deprived of liberty “must be treated with humanity and dignity and allowed to maintain regular contact with their families,” calling them “binding obligations under international law.”
UNICEF called for “an end to child detention in all its forms and the immediate release of children detained in Iran following the most recent public unrest.”
The agency also noted that Iran is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and is therefore obliged to “respect, protect and fulfill the rights of children.”
Regional tensions
Meanwhile, at UN headquarters in New York, spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the Secretary-General was “very concerned about the military build-up we are seeing” in the Persian Gulf, including war games and training exercises.
In response to a question during his regular midday briefing, he said the UN continues to encourage both Iran and the United States to continue discussions facilitated by Oman.