US must stop jailing minors for life, says Amnesty

Amnesty International has called for the US to stop sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole.

More than 2,500 adults are in US jails for crimes committed as a child – under current rules they will never be freed.

In its new report, Amnesty says the practice is incompatible with the basic principles of juvenile justice.

The US and Somalia are the only two countries not to have ratified a UN convention that bans life in jail without parole for under-18 year olds.

‘Potential for rehabilitation’

Amnesty says offenders as young as 11 have faced such sentences in the US.

“In the USA, people under 18 years old cannot vote, buy alcohol, lottery tickets or consent to most forms of medical treatment,” said Natacha Mension, of the human rights group.

 

Read the entire article on the BBC News website.