Meeting of Advisory Council for helping orphans and neglected children held in Investigative Committee


On 28 October 2015, Chairman of the Russia’s Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin held a meeting of the advisory council on helping orphans and neglected children to discuss protection of children against domestic violence and analysis of failures in protecting rights and legal interests of children by social services and guardianship, education and health authorities.

The meeting was attended by state councilor of justice Prosecutor General of the USST Alexander Sukharev, acting chancellor of the Investigative Committee Academy Anatoly Bagmet, Director of Alexander Nevsky Cadet School of the Investigative Committee Igor Zaporozhan, President of the Couuncil of regional NGO Union of Investigation Veterans Vladimir Dontsov, responsible representative of the Association of Volunteer Organizations of the Commonwealth of Volunteers “Search for Missing Children” Dmitry Vtorov, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, member of the Union of Writers of Russia Alexander Minkov (Marshall), People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Yuri Antonov and representatives of education, guardianship and health authorities and executive authorities of some regions.

In his speech Chairman of the Investigative Committee told about criminal cases that were being investigated in the Investigative Committee noting that over 9 months of 2015 1,543 children (1,348 in the similar period last year) were recognized victims to criminal assaults of their relatives, 1,028 of them (805, last year) suffered from assaults of their parents and 83 children (61 last year), who were adopted or fostered.

Mr. Bastrykin told about problems of domestic violence and failures of social services on examples of some criminal cases. This way, the members of the council discussed the death of a 4-year-old girl in the Republic of Altai this summer, who was one of eight children fostered after their mother had killed herself. The girl’s foster mother was not happy with the child’s behavior and hit her multiple times on her head by hands and a flapper on the eyes of girl’s little sisters. The girl suffered a grain injury and died. During the investigation, it was revealed that custodian authorities had failed to do their duty to pick and prepare a foster parent.  They had failed to take into notice conclusion made by a psychologist that the woman was prone to aggression. In addition, from November 2014 and until 16 June 2015, the day when the girl died, the custodian authorities had not checked living conditions of the children. At present, there is an ongoing investigation against the director of Shebalino District social support office over a crime under article 293 of the RF Penal Code – negligence.

At the same time, the Chairman mentioned the tragedy that happened in the summer in the town of Nizhny Novgorod, when the father of the family named Belov killed his pregnant wife and his six little children, the eldest of whom was 7 years old. Mr. Bastrykin said that “if authorities had decided to confiscate the children from the dangerous environment when the time was right, they might have been alive now”.

The members of the council drew attention to the necessity to improve interagency interaction between law-enforcement bodies and social services, guardianship, education, healthcare and custodian authorities; the necessity to make amendments to the existent legal framework regulating the said issues; to improve system controlling activity of bodies in charge of prevention of violation of rights of minors; to develop an algorithm of help to families and children in difficult life situation. Following the meeting proposals were prepared to be forwarded to proper state authorities.

Head of Media Relations                                                                                                                         V.I. Markin

28 October 2015 17:59

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