Thousands of children in conflict-affected countries have been detained without charge for months or even years as national security threats, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday. 
Untold numbers have been tortured or have died in custody, the rights watchdog said, calling on governments to immediately stop detaining children without charge and appropriately punish those who mistreat them. 
The report, "Extreme Measures: Abuses against Children Detained as National Security Threats," documents the arrest and detention of children for alleged association with non-state armed groups or involvement in conflict-related offenses. 
The report found that children are detained in massive security sweeps, on baseless suspicions and for their family members' alleged ties to terrorism. 
The arrests are often made in the context of counterterrorism measures in areas where violent extremism is on the rise, said Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. 
"These practices are not only illegal, they are counterproductive," Becker said. 
"If governments are concerned about children joining extremist groups, then detaining them and subjecting them to torture and ill treatment is only going to increase any sense of alienation that they feel," she said. 
In Syria, at least 1,400 children have been detained since the conflict began in 2011, including boys as young as 8 years old, according to the report. 
In Palestine, hundreds of Palestinian children are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system each year for offenses such as throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. In 2015, an average of 220 Palestinian children were held in custody each month. 
The United States, during its military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, also detained thousands of children, including 2,400 minors in Iraq alone, the report found. At least 15 children were held at Guantanamo Bay for time periods ranging from months to 10 years. 
The report also warned that children were especially vulnerable to torture and ill treatment while in detention.

Source : QNA