The RF Presidential Administration has hosted today the All-Russian Conference Call discussing the results of the 1st session of the summer camp attended by a representative of the Russian Investigative Committee.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of the State Duma and Federation Council, Ministry for Education and Science, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Ministry of Health, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry for Emergency Situations, RF Prosecutor General’s Office, Federal Service for Labor and Employment, Roskomnadzor (Federal Communications, Information Technologies and Mass Media Inspectorate) and medical and educational organizations, experts and regional children’s ombudsmen.
The meeting discussed the problems regions have with organizing children’s holidays in camps, proposals on solving those problems, emergency situations happening in children’s summer camps and steps taken to prevent them.
The representative of the Investigative Committee outlined the Committee’s stand.
According to statistics, 123 minors were recognized as victims of crimes committed in children’s camps in 2015, this figure went up to 280 in 2016. The Lake Syamozero tragedy alone claimed 14 lives of teenagers.
Investigations into negligence of officials and into unsafe services provided by them in children’s summer camps have established that one of the reasons for accidents involving children is flaws in legal regulation and no coordination of running summer camps on the federal level. At the same time, there are some jointly achieved results in this area. First of all, requirements to child-serving organizations have become more precise and tougher. Resolution of the Russian Government of 10 August 2016 No 1682-r bans inviting online bidding for children’s camps in Russia. The Russian Ministry for Education and Science is now the state body put in charge of organizing children’s summer camps. It coordinates the operation of all child and youth-serving organizations. In addition, resolution of the Russian Government of 22 May 2017 No 978-r instituted Basics of State Regulation and Control of Children’s Summer Camp Organizations.
This way we can draw an interim result: 100 minors were recognized as victims of crimes committed in children’s summer camps over the first quarter of 2016, the number is three times lower over the similar period in 20127.
The Investigative Committee pointed to another problem: lives and health of children not involved in any afterschool programs during school holidays are more often exposed to some serious risks, including crimes.
This situation is proven by operative data: 149 sex crimes against minors were registered in the period between 20 and 26 February 2017 alone, which included 4 holidays, while only 63 such crimes were registered in the previous week between 13 and 19 February 2017.
In addition, according to the Investigative Committee considerable part of investigations into crimes committed in the area of child’s holidays are initiated over injuring minors on rides. The state control body authorized to control compliance with technical regulations “On Park Amusements” is to be determined no later than 6 months prior the date the technical regulations come into effect which is 18 March 2018. The Investigative Committee was informed that preparations are underway now as there is a lot of time ahead, the whole summer, before October 2017 (the deadline when a decision on the state control body should be taken). What this delay costs in real life? Children get hurt. In Irkutsk Region alone 4 investigations were launched in May and June into injuries got by children on an inflatable bouncer. The Investigative Committee takes a strong stand: quick decision-making should be crucial when ensuring children’s safety.
The meeting also discussed safety of children near bodies of water where the possibility of crisis situations caused by children violating safe conduct rules is especially high. Yet another tragedy that happened in Lake Ladoga in Karelia where 3 children drowned on 19 June 2017 proves this to be true.
Nobody can tell for sure what a child may take into their head when they are alone without special guard or care. This way, in early June two 10-year-old boys got into a building being constructed in Saratov Region. They entertained themselves by hanging on their hands from the 9th floor. One of them fell and hit a metallic bar. He died on the scene. Three children died in Maritime Territory in early June and another girl is in a coma. The 13and 11-year-olds went walking along railway tracks and got ran over by a locomotive.
Such examples and based on them results of analysis of criminal cases and preliminary checks suggest the necessity of real changes in the approach to organizing youth holidays and leisure. This is the only approach that can help handle many issues of protecting rights of children and prevent accidents involving children during holidays.
The Investigative Committee is going to keep its principled stand against officials who are negligent about children’s safety.
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