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UNICEF Says Child-Friendly Justice Solutions “are More Than Possible”

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United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
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More than 45,000 boys and girls were released from detention worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a new report released on Monday by UNICEF, this proves that child-friendly justice solutions “are more than possible”.

Detention of children in the time of COVID revealed that authorities in at least 84 countries have safely returned scores of detained youngsters to their families since April 2020, which is when UNICEF sounded the alarm over how confinement increases children’s risk of contracting the disease.

The report is one of two studies released ahead of the World Congress on Justice with Children, taking place online this week.

Henrietta Fore, the UNICEF Executive Director, commended those countries that heeded the agency’s call.

“We have long known that justice systems are ill-equipped to handle the specific needs of children – a situation further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

“By protecting children from conditions that could have exposed them to grave illness, these countries were able to overcome public resistance and spur innovative, age-appropriate justice solutions. This has proved something we already knew – child friendly justice solutions are more than possible.”

Across the world, children have been detained, including in pre-and post-trial custody, or in immigration detention.

They have also been held in relation to armed conflicts or national security, or they live with parents who are in confinement.

Detention facilities are often overcrowded and children there lacked adequate access to nutrition, healthcare and hygiene services.

They are also vulnerable to neglect, physical and psychological abuse, as well as gender-based violence. 

Furthermore, many are denied access to lawyers and family care.

UNICEF said the pandemic has profoundly affected justice for children.  COVID-19 forced courts to shut down, and restricted access to essential social and justice services.

Evidence shows that many children, including children living on the streets, were detained for violating pandemic curfew orders and movement restrictions.

Approximately 261,000 children globally are held in detention, according to the second UNICEF report.

Estimating the number of children deprived of their liberty in the administration of justice is the first such analysis in more than a decade.

It warned that incomplete record-keeping and undeveloped administrative data systems in many countries meant the number was likely to be much higher.

UNICEF called for governments and civil society to reimagine justice to safely end the detention of all children.

“Any child detained is evidence of failed systems, but that failure is then compounded further. Justice systems meant to protect and support children often add to their suffering,” Fore said.

“As policymakers, legal practitioners, academics, civil society, and children and young people convene at the World Congress this week, we must work together to end the detention of children, “she said.

Recommendations include investing in legal rights awareness for children in the justice and welfare systems, expanding free legal aid and representation, and prioritizing prevention and early intervention.

To end child detention, governments are encouraged to implement legal reforms to raise the age of criminal responsibility, and to ensure justice for boys and girls who have survived sexual violence, abuse or exploitation.

Action should also include investing in child and gender-sensitive justice processes, and establishing specialised child-friendly courts, as well as virtual and mobile courts. (NAN)

Foreign News

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Iranian Money Laundering Network

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The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sanctions against more than 30 individuals and companies accused of helping Iran evade sanctions and launder billions from oil and petrochemical sales to fund its nuclear and missile programmes.The sanctioned network operated as a system of “shadow banking” involving front companies in places like Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, the department said in a statement.

The goal, it said, was to bypass existing sanctions, obscure the origin of oil proceeds, and funnel money into military-linked projects.
The new sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets of the targeted entities and bar U.S. citizens from doing business with them.The measures also complicate the ability of those sanctioned to operate internationally, especially in transactions involving U.
S. dollars.Washington and Tehran are engaged in negotiations over the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he “aims to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons”.Tehran insists its nuclear activities are purely for civilian purposes.Trump has warned that military action remains on the table if diplomacy fails. (dpa/NAN)

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Trump Bans Citizens of 12 Countries from Entering U.S.

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U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation on Wednesday evening banning citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States.The countries affected are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Nationals from these countries will be “fully” restricted from entering the U.
S., according to the proclamation.
Similarly, the entry of nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela will be partially restricted.The proclamation is effective on June 9, 2025 at 12:01 am EDT (5:01am Nigerian time).Trump said the move was needed to protect the U.S. against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats.
“We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm,” Trump said in a video posted on X.The U.S. President said the list could be revised and new countries could be added.He said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbour a “large-scale presence of terrorists”.He alleged others failed to cooperate on visa security and had an inability to verify travellers’ identities, inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the U.S..“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States,” Trump said.Trump’s directive is part of an immigration crackdown that he launched at the start of his second term, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security”.Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the U.S. to detect national security threats.That order directed several cabinet members to submit a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient.”During his first term in office, Trump had announced a ban on travellers from seven countries, a policy that generated so much controversies before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.However, former President Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump, repealed the ban in 2021, calling it “a stain on our national conscience.” (NAN)

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Israel Vows to Build Jewish Settlements, Rejects Macron’s Call for Palestinian State

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“Do not threaten Israel with sanctions” as it will continue to build a “Jewish state” on the ground,” Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, warned on Friday.He also rebuffed a call by French President Emmanuel Macron for establishing a Palestinian State.In open defiance of international law, Katz claimed that world powers may recognize a Palestinian state “on paper.

”Katz made the remarks during a visit to Sa-Nur, an illegal outpost in the northern West Bank that the Tel Aviv government recently decided to officially designate as a settlement for illegal Israeli settlers.
In a direct message, Defense Minister Israel Katz targets French President Macron and European allies.He also dismissed the potential international consequences.
He said: “They will recognise a Palestinian state on paper, while we will build the Jewish Israeli state on the ground.“Don’t threaten us with sanctions. You will not make us bow.“The State of Israel will not kneel before threats.”His comments came hours after President Macron stated that recognising the State of Palestine was a “moral duty”.Macron also reiterated that France may move toward official recognition during an upcoming international conference focused on the two-state solution.Earlier this week, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli Security Cabinet had secretly approved the establishment of 22 new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.In response, the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now issued a statement Thursday, revealing that 12 of the newly approved settlements were previously unauthorised outposts and farming sites established in recent years.According to Peace Now, there are currently 156 illegal settlements and 224 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with over 736,000 illegal Israeli settlers living on occupied Palestinian land.The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law.The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.(AA/NAN)

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