A humanitarian watchdog group on Wednesday raised concerns over the U.S. military's handling of juvenile detainees in Iraq, saying "some children have been detained for more than a year without charge or trial."
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U.S. soldiers count juvenile detainees after a restroom break at Camp Cropper in Iraq in September 2007.

Human Rights Watch alleges that children in U.S. custody in Iraq are being "held without due process."

The New York-based group called on the military to release children detained for more than a year and to provide child detainees timely judicial reviews and "prompt access to independent legal assistance and family visits."

"In conflicts where it was not directly involved, the U.S. has been a leader in helping child soldiers re-enter society," Clarisa Bencomo, a children's rights researcher on the Middle East at Human Rights Watch, is quoted in the report. "That kind of leadership is unfortunately missing in Iraq."

Bencomo said, "The vast majority of children detained in Iraq languish for months in U.S. military custody. The U.S. should provide these children with immediate access to lawyers and an independent judicial review of their detention."

A Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman for detainee operations defended the practices of the U.S.-led coalition and denied aspects of the report.

In several instances, Maj. Matthew Morgan said that Human Rights Watch is calling upon coalition forces "to do something that is already a matter of practice in Iraq."