CRC/C/GC/24 G. Specific issues Children recruited and used by non-State armed groups, terrorist or violent extremist groups 109. The United Nations has verified numerous cases of recruitment and exploitation of children by non-State armed groups, terrorist and violent extremist organizations not only in conflict areas, but also in non-conflict areas, including children’s countries of origin, transit or return. 110. When under the control of such groups, children may become victims of multiple forms of violations: conscription, military training, being use in hostilities and/or terrorist acts, including suicide attacks, forced to carry out executions, used as human shields, or being victims of abduction, sale, trafficking, child marriages, or exploitation to carry out dangerous tasks, such as spying, manning check points, conducting patrols, or transporting military equipment. It has been reported that non-State armed groups or terrorist and violent extremist organization also force children to commit acts of violence against their own families or within their own communities to demonstrate loyalty and to discourage future defection. 111. States parties authorities face a number of challenges when dealing with these children. Some States parties have adopted a punitive approach with no or limited consideration of children’s rights, resulting in lasting consequences for the development of the child and having a negative impact on their opportunities for rehabilitation and social reintegration, which in turn may have serious consequences for the broader society. Often, these children are arrested, detained, prosecuted and put on trial for their actions, in conflict areas and, less so, also in their countries of origin or return. 112. The Committee reminds States parties that they should treat these children primarily as victims and refrain from charging and prosecuting them for mere association with a nonState armed group or a terrorist or violent extremist organization. If there have to be criminal charges laid against them – by their nature very serious ones –State parties should ensure that all children charged, regardless of the gravity or the context, are dealt with in terms of articles 37 and 40 of the CRC, and in line with this general comment. States parties should emphasize restorative justice, diversion from judicial proceedings and non-custodial measures. They should also adopt and preventive interventions to tackle social factors and root causes as well as rehabilitation and reintegration measures, 4 including when implementing counterterrorism related Security Council resolutions, such as resolutions 1373 (2001), 2178 (2014), and 2396 (2017). Customary Justice 113. For many children in conflict with the law in many countries, informal justice systems may be more accessible than the formal mechanisms and have the advantage of quickly and relatively inexpensively proposing responses tailored to cultural specificities, with particular impact on children. Informal justice systems can serve as an alternative to official proceedings against children, and are likely to contribute favourably to the change of cultural attitude concerning children and justice. 114. There is now a consensus among international humanitarian organizations that, in order to be effective and comprehensive, reform of justice sector programmes must integrate formal and informal aspects in the exercise of justice. Considering the potential tension between state justice and customary justice, reforms should proceed in stages and with a methodology that involves a full understanding of the comparative systems concerned, and which is acceptable to all stakeholder. Customary justice processes and outcomes must be aligned with constitutional law and with legal and procedural guarantees. It is important that unfair discrimination does not occur, if children committing similar crimes are being dealt with differently in parallel systems or fora. 4 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 20 (2016) on the implementation of the rights of children during adolescence, paragraph 88. 21