E/CN.4/2003/85 page 15 48. When the age of migrants is disputed, they are often reportedly treated like adults until credible documentary or medical evidence is produced which demonstrates that they are minors. Cases of migrant child victims of trafficking or smuggling who were detained and subsequently deported without consideration for their status as victims were brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur, who also personally interviewed some of them. 49. The Special Rapporteur notices with concern that while the legislation of the majority of countries provides that minors subjected to criminal proceedings should be detained only as a measure of last resort and protected by a set of judicial safeguards and guarantees to ensure that the children’s rights are protected, at the same time it allows for administrative detention of foreign children without any such guarantees. 50. Often elderly people, persons with disabilities, pregnant women and ill people, including the mentally ill, are detained without any particular regard for their conditions and specific needs. It was reported that detention has a heavy impact on pregnant women and their children, as well as the elderly, disabled and mentally ill. Pregnant women, for example, need to have access to proper nutrition for the well-being of the baby and to medical and support service that are not available in detention facilities. 51. Furthermore, detention produces anxiety, depression and isolation, especially in women. Detained migrants have often suffered previous traumas and the absence of psychological support, coupled with the conditions of detention, the lack of safeguards and uncertainty about the future, can have serious consequences for their mental and physical health. Several instances of migrants committing or attempting to commit suicide in detention were reported to the Special Rapporteur. It was also reported that migrants who attempt suicide are not always provided with the necessary medical and psychological assistance. It has been reported that migrants who had attempted suicide were moved to special rooms where they remained isolated and under constant surveillance, instead of being provided with necessary care and support. B. Conditions of detention 52. Detention facilities for migrants vary from country to country and according to the type of regime to which migrants are subjected. 53. Migrants sentenced to imprisonment for immigration offences are detained with common criminals and subjected to the same punitive regime; they are not always separated from the rest of the prison population and have difficulties in understanding and communicating. The fact that their families are often far away and are difficult to keep in touch with further increases their sense of isolation. There are often no arrangements to provide culturally appropriate foods and to allow them to practise their faiths. Racist attacks against migrants detained with common prisoners were also reported. Prison personnel in most of the cases do not receive specific training on how to deal with foreign detainees. 54. Administrative detention should never be of a punitive nature. Furthermore, as enshrined in article 10 of ICCPR, all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. This implies not only the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,18 but also that