A/HRC/RES/19/37 carried out independently and in the best interests of the child, and to hold perpetrators to account; 48. Calls upon all States and other parties to armed conflict to respect fully international humanitarian law and, in this regard, calls upon States parties to respect fully the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and the Additional Protocols thereto of 8 June 1977; VI. Children and the administration of justice 49. Reaffirms all resolutions of the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council on juvenile justice, in particular Assembly resolution 65/213 of 21 December 2010 and Council resolution 18/12 of 29 September 2011; 50. Encourages States to develop and implement a comprehensive juvenile justice policy to protect and address the needs of children in contact with the law with a view to promoting, inter alia, crime prevention programmes, the use of alternative measures, such as diversion and restorative justice, and ensuring compliance with the principle that deprivation of liberty of children should only be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, as well as to avoid, wherever possible, the use of pretrial detention for children; 51. Calls upon States to abolish by law and in practice, as soon as possible, the death penalty and life imprisonment without possibility of release for those under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offence; 52. Also calls upon States to commute immediately such sentences and to ensure that any child previously sentenced to the death penalty or life imprisonment without possibility of release is removed from special prison facilities, especially from death row, and transferred to regular institutions of detention appropriate for the age of the offender and the offence committed; 53. Calls upon all States to protect children deprived of their liberty from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and to ensure that, if they are arrested, detained or imprisoned, children are provided with adequate legal assistance and that they have the right to maintain contact with their family through correspondence and visits from the moment they are arrested, save in exceptional circumstances, and that no child is sentenced or subject to forced labour or corporal punishment, or deprived of access to and provision of health care and services, hygiene and environmental sanitation, education, basic instruction and vocational training, and to undertake prompt investigations of all reported acts of violence and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable; 54. Urges States to take special measures to protect children in contact with the law, including by means of the provision of adequate legal assistance, training in juvenile justice for judges, police officers, prosecutors and specialized lawyers, in addition to other representatives who provide other appropriate assistance, such as social workers; the establishment of specialized courts, as appropriate; the promotion of universal birth registration and age documentation; and the protection of the right of juvenile offenders to maintain contact with their families through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances; 55. Also urges States to presume children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the criminal law to be under the age of majority when their age is in doubt until such an assumption is rebutted by the prosecution, and to treat the accused as a juvenile if the burden is not met; 11