The Howard League for Penal Reform said the routine use of restraint, strip-searching and segregation in youth custody amounted to “systemic cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of children”.
The claim formed part of a submission by the campaign group to a review of the UK by the United Nations' Committee Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment.
The charity said that conditions in the UK's youth prisons breach Article 16 of the UN Convention Against Torture.
The submission argued that youth jails are failing in their most basic duty to keep children safe, highlighted by the deaths of three prisoners under the age of 18 in 2011/12.
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