European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria Violations of the prohibition against torture or other ill-treatment and of States’ preventive obligations can be committed by perpetration, omission, and acts of complicity.418 By leaving the children in the camps and not repatriating them or providing them with consular assistance, European States are denying their access to any of safeguards meant to protect them from torture and ill-treatment. Considering the fundamental importance of the right to be free from torture or inhuman treatment or punishment, European States, in accordance with their positive duties, must take effective steps to bring children’s illtreatment to an end. The repatriation of the children is a reasonable means that is available to States and a necessary one considering the nature of the risks and the children’s best interests. 419 The Right to Liberty and Security European States have a positive duty to put an end to the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of the children detained in the camps and they have the means to do so by repatriating the children to their countries of nationality, in accordance with the children’s best interests. Under international human rights law, everyone has the right to liberty and security of the person and no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.420 With specific reference to children, the CRC dictates that no child may be deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily and their detention must be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.421 Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the right to personal security also obliges States to protect individuals from foreseeable threats to life or bodily integrity proceeding from any governmental or private actors. 422 Similarly, under European human rights law, European States have a positive duty to take appropriate steps to 418 UNGA, “Note by the Secretary-General on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,” para. 21. 419 See, for example: European Commissioner for Human Rights, “Intervention de la Commissaire aux Droits de l’Homme du Conseil de l’Europe en Qualité de Tierce Partie devant la Cour Européenne des Droits de l’Homme,” Requêtes no 24384/19 et 44234/20 H.F. et M.F. c. France et J.D. et A.D. c. France, 25 June 2021, para. 38. 420 ICCPR, Article 9; ECHR, Article 5. 421 CRC, Article 37(b). 422 HRComm, “General Comment No. 35 – Article 9 (Liberty and security of person),” CCPR/C/GC/35, 16 December 2014, para. 9. 72