News

The Consulting Council of the Russia’s Investigative Committee on helping orphans and children without parental care has held its first meeting today.

The Council was founded to actively contribute to protection of orphans’ rights and to involve in this activity representatives of science, non-governmental organizations and state bodies.

The meeting was attended by representatives of state authorities, educational institutions, NGO and heads of regional investigations directorates. The meeting was led by Alexander Bastrykin, the Chairman of the Council.

Opening the meeting Mr Bastrykin noted that protection of rights of socially vulnerable groups of society such as orphans and children left without parental control is of special importance for the Investigative Committee. It happens more often that children become victims of criminal intentions. During 8 months of the current year alone, investigators of the Committee have investigated more than 9 thousand (9,071) crimes committed against minors. Among them – 328 are murders, 715 rapes, more than 4 thousand violent and other sexual actions. The Investigative Committee alone over the past 5 years has investigated 511 criminal cases over criminal encroachments on orphans and children without parental care. More than a half of them (301) are sexual crimes; 59 – over grave injuries to and murders of children; 23 – over stealing of property from minors; 3 – over involving in prostitution. 276 little citizens of our country have become victims of the criminals.

“Of course, these figures cannot in full reflect the whole size of sufferings and tortures of children. Being abandoned by their parents they suffer more acutely the loss of trust to the adults who don’t want or can’t protect them against criminal intentions”, - said Mr Bastrykin.

The analysis carried out by the Investigative Committee shows that there is still no adequate interaction aimed at revealing facts demanding immediate interference between the bodies and agencies which in accordance with the Federal Law “On fundamentals of system preventing child neglect and offences by minors” have to protect children. The Investigative Committee accordingly has prepared a bill on adding to article 316 of the RF Criminal Code (concealment of a crime) norms establishing criminal liability for concealing crimes of moderate gravity and grave ones committed against minors and toughening responsibility for concealing especially serious crimes against minors.

One more very important subject on the agenda was providing orphans and children left without parental care with dwelling after graduation from special educational institutions.

Discussing the subject, Mr Bastrykin said that the measures taken by child custody and welfare agencies to save the dwelling of orphans and children without parental care were not efficient enough yet and it often happened that dishonest officials made a profit out of that. Thus for example the Irbit district court of the Sverdlovsk Region convicted a guardianship specialist of the district education office of Irbit for swindling and official forgery. He, using his official position, forged documents on the basis of which a flat registered for orphans was illegally transferred to municipal unitary institution Kommunalshchik and was assigned by appointment to his son.

“And there are a lot more such examples. It is due to the fact that until recently, inexperienced not adapted to adult life orphans receiving dwelling out of turn have quickly got into hands of different rogues and swindlers offering them to privatize apartments which later they misappropriate by deceit. At best, an orphan found himself in a place hardly fit for living, at worst – was thrown to the street to join the ranks of criminals. Our common task is to close all possible loopholes for dishonest officials and to protect housing rights of children”, - Alexander Bastrykin said.

Besides, the meeting discussed practice and results of investigating crimes against orphans and children without parental care.

The meeting heard reports by the head of Kemerovo Region Investigations Directorate of the Russia’s Investigative Committee on results of the investigation of a criminal case over exceeding official powers by director of state institutional facility Myskovsky orphanage for backward children and by deputy head of Leningrad Region Investigations Directorate on the results of checks into violations in the children health camp Yunost.

In conclusion Alexander Bastrykin said that he was sure that discussing and immediate response of the Consulting Council to all the problems mentioned would help solving tasks on successful social adaptation and elimination of violations of housing, labor and other rights of orphans and children without parental care and would allow exchange of positive experience and determining exact areas of joint activity.