Over 200 juvenile Afghans are being detained at the Bagram detention center north of Kabul, the international Human Rights Watch said Tuesday, an issue that it has brought to the attention of the United Nations.
"The US has admitted that there are over 200 Afghan children imprisoned in Bagram and these are children have been arrested by US forces," researcher for the Human Rights Watch in Afghanistan, Heather Barr, told TOLOnews in an interview.
"Human Rights Watch has complained about this specific issue to the United Nations," Barr added.
In addition to concerns about the detainment of children inside the military prison, Barr said the children's treatment went against international regulations.
"We visited Bagram in March last year and we were very concerned about this issue because not only the children are there but they're being kept in the same cells together with adults which is not acceptable under international standards," she said.
"And they don't have as much access as they should have to specialised services for child educational services and other programs that should be provided to them."
The United Nations Human Rights Director Georgette Gagnon said that the issue would be followed up.
"We have the report and obviously we will be looking at it and addressing any issues that we are asked to look at," Gagnon said.
The US and Afghan officials are yet to respond to requests for comment about the detention of juveniles in Bagram.