Torture in children.

This is a review article that studies the problem of torture in children. Torture in children is a significant worldwide problem, but there are no official or reliable independent statistics to measure the magnitude of the problem. The definition of torture in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment applies to adults and children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines children as "every human being below the age of eighteen years". Torture in children happens during peace times and during political violence and war conflicts. The majority of torture victims happen during peace times. The high-risk groups are impoverished children living in the street, children deprived of parental care, children in conflict with the law, and children in detention. During political violence and war the high risk children are the children detained during political violence, child soldiers, children internally displaced in refugee camps, detained children during the war against terrorism and children tortured by peacekeeping forces. The perpetrators of torture in children are the members of the same forces that torture adults, generally the police, civil police, security guards trained by police, prison guards, and military forces. The paper identifies some preventive measure and develops recommendations for action at the local, national and international level.